Fate Re:WORLD
by blyze577
Summary: Blake Ryan was just your average twenty-year-old, writing a story. That is, until he realizes that he is the one the story is being written about. Blake is suddenly torn from the world that he thought he knew and thrust into the world of mages and servants. It turns out that the world he thought was mere fantasy, is very real. The Sixth Holy Grail War has begun.
1. Chapter 0

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fate/ Stay Night, Fate/ Zero, or any other Type/Moon productions or characters. This story is completely for entertainment purposes.**_

**Chapter 0 - ?**

A glowing light floated aimlessly through the void. It knew not where it was going, nor from where it came. It only seemed to be. It simply floated, unhindered, unabated, and free.

Gradually, conscience began to form. It began to wonder why it didn't feel cold. It felt like this place that it occupied should have been cold. As for why it had made this assumption, it had no idea. It wondered where it was. What this empty place was. It wondered where it was from and where it was going. It felt like it was supposed to meet something; that this something was waiting for him. No. "Something" was wrong. It meant "someone". Someone important to it.

The image of a woman's face jumped to the forefront of the light's thoughts. Pale, milky skin. Dark shoulder length hair. Eyes that seemed to stare into one's soul. And a smile meant just for him. Him. So he was a man. The light wanted to meet this woman he had begun to envision. He felt that she held a vital piece to what was happening. Maybe even a vital piece to who he was.

As time passed on, the vision of a small girl with red eyes and blonde hair began to appear alongside the woman. The light pleaded with the void to tell him who these women were to him. He knew them. He just couldn't remember them. He knew he loved them. He just couldn't remember why. He wanted to see them again. No. Not want. Need. He needed to see them again.

"_Ah, so that is your wish._" a soft female voice echoed out through the nothingness. "_You wish to be reunited with your wife and beloved daughter?_"

Wife? Daughter? That's who those two were to him? It didn't seem that he could be so lucky. Yet, as that thought entered his mind, more images flashed in his head.

A shy girl, using him as a cover to hide behind. Time gazing up at the stars in quiet companionship. A soft touch of flesh against flesh. And a smile he had worked so hard to bring to her face.

More images flashed. A scared young girl. A baffling chess game. An acceptance of a nature he thought he wouldn't be able to. And the hug of a child now under his protection.

He remembered who he was now. He remembered what he fought for. Yes, this was what he wished for with all his heart. He wanted to see them again. No. He _would_ see them again.

Seemingly reading his mind, the voice rang out once more.

"_Will you fight for it then?_"

Yes, he would. He would do anything.

"_Will you kill for it._"

Yes!

"_Will you take down anything in your path?_"

YES!

"_Then fight for your wish in this Holy Grail War!_"

I WILL!

Distant chanting began to echo in the light's head.

"_Heed my words._"

The voice sounded oddly similar to his own. Almost as if it was his voice chanting.

"_My will creates your body,_" the voice continued.

The light began to materialize into a tall man with padded, green, leather armor and flowing white hair.

"_And your blade creates my destiny._"

A familiar spear with a wicked looking spearhead materialized into the man's hands. It gave off an ominous red glow.

"_If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning!"_

The man felt some sort of force pulling him towards something. It was almost as if a black hole had opened and was pulling him.

"_I hereby swear, that I shall be all that is good in the world and that I shall defeat all that is evil._"

The chanting began to resonate strongly in the warrior's soul. It pulsed and vibrated through him like an electric charge; making strength flow through his body.

"_Seventh Heaven clad, and the great words of power, come forth from the circle of bindings_"

He was almost there, he could feel it. His destination was right around the corner; metaphorically speaking, that is.

"_Guardian of the Scales!_"

With a brilliant flash, Lancer appeared in a small room belonging to what looked to be a house. A rather large bed sat in the middle of the wall to his left, and a nightstand sat to the right of said bed with a lamp on it. Two wardrobes lined the wall at the foot of the bed, and the walls to his left and in front of him had windows in them. He heard a rumble pass by the window and somehow knew that a car had just passed by.

As Lancer turned around to observe the rest of the room, he took in the sight of a younger man, no older than what Lancer himself looked, staring up at him in pure awe and shock. What was most striking was that aside from the long white hair Lancer possessed, the boy looked almost identical to him. Yet, there was no mistake. Though the boy's face held shock, this boy was the one who had summoned him. The three command seals on his right hand were evidence of that.

"So," Lancer gave a wide smile. "Are you my master?"


	2. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or related properties. This is for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!**_

**Chapter 1- Blake**

Blake had writer's block. He really hated writer's block. He had been writing the story of one of his characters in a dungeons and dragons game, when he had reached a part of the story where he was having trouble remembering the order of events. It had been nearly a year since he had played out those events with his beloved character. Looking back, it seemed like a lifetime ago.

The boy leaned back in his chair and stretched himself out. Much had happened in the past year. He had attended college back in America for two semesters, but had had no real goal. Due to that fact, he had lost focus and ended up dropping out from college. That was how he had ended up here, in Germany.

Blake was originally from America and was raised in the state of California, but he had recently moved to Germany. Part of the move had been for a hope to reconnect with his younger sister, stepmother, and father, and the other was to figure out life and see the world. He had spent his entire life in California and wanted to broaden his view of the world he found himself in.

Since moving, he had seen many countries, tried many new foods, and done many new things, but on this day, like the many similar to it, when he was between his travels, Blake found himself hopelessly and irrefutably bored. So, in hopes of curing his writer's block he decided to write a spin-off/ crossover story based in the world of one of his favorite animes. The story he wrote took place in the world of Fate.

The story would include his dungeons and dragons character, Suingi, as the Lancer class Servant, and because Blake himself was a mad man, he made the Holy Grail War of the Fate world take place in Germany and turned himself into the master of Lancer.

Blake began typing the part where Suingi was getting pulled towards the Holy Grail War by means that his self in the story was unaware of. All he had to do was type the chant that would summon Suingi, his servant, into the world.

"_Heed my words._" he typed.

The words seemed to echo out from his mind. That was odd. That normally didn't happen. Yet, the boy continued.

"_My will creates your body,_"

Blake began to feel a kind of warmth on his right hand. He looked down at it and only saw that it had taken on an irritated appearance. Had he been scratching his hand? He chose to shrug it off and continued to pad away on his keyboard.

"_And your blade creates my destiny._"

The warmth continued to rise, but Blake was too much in the zone to notice now.

"_If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning!_"

The young man felt something coming, but he just thought it was the satisfaction of a finished chapter. He was beginning to feel a sort of excitement at this part. His version of himself was going to be so surprised to see his D&D character appear before him, and especially for a Holy Grail War.

"_I hereby swear, that I shall be all that is good in the world and that I shall defeat all that is evil._"

His hand felt really warm now, but his eyes were glued to his computer screen as he tapped away at the keys. If he had been a pianist, this piece would be his symphony. He was about to wow the readers and make them love this chapter.

"_Seventh Heaven clad, and the great words of power, come forth from the circle of bindings_"

He was almost there, he could feel it. Just a little more and he would have a fully completed chapter with that badass summoning chant in it. He was invested.

"_Guardian of the Scales!_"

Suddenly, a vaguely familiar symbol appeared on Blake's computer screen, but flashed away almost as quickly as it had appeared. That's when his computer began to shine more brightly than it ever had before, but before he could marvel over this fact, the device started to let off smoke and Blake's eyes widened. The boy hit the floor just as the laptop exploded in a ball of brilliant light. He was so glad that no one was home at the moment. He'd have some explaining to do otherwise.

As he looked up from his huddled position on the floor, Blake found himself looking up at a tall man with long white hair and green leather armor. What was most striking about this man was the his face. It was almost identical to Blake's. The boy's eyes widened once more. Oh no. This was bad. Blake realized two things in that moment. One, this man was Suingi as the Lancer servant, and two, Blake was not the Blake who was writing the story.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer- I don't own Fate Stay/Night or any related properties. This is purely for entertainment purposes.**_

**Chapter 2 - BLAKE**

"So," The spearman began. "Are you my Master?"

Blake stared in complete disbelief at the man who now stood before him. There was no way that this was real. It had to be a dream. His thoughts ran in every direction imaginable, all in an attempt to wrap his mind around what was happening. There had to be an explanation for such an occurrence. Maybe he was delusional. Maybe this man, who appeared to be the character that Blake had played as, on countless occasions, was just an odd figment of his imagination. A manifestation of his unrelenting boredom.

"You okay there, kid?" The spearman asked. The boy's mind had clearly gone into overload mode.

Blake couldn't process this right now. If this was real, and that man was Suingi standing before him, then that meant that the story he had intended to write was indeed being written. It just wasn't being written by this him. That meant that there were multiple dimensions and it was that fact that made his head spin.

The servant waited impatiently as the boy muttered to himself about the implications of multiple realities. He tapped his foot and let out a sigh.

"Look," He said. "I can go. If you aren't the one who summoned me, that's fine. Just point me in the direction of who did."

Blake finally snapped out of his incessant mumbling and looked at the servant. It dawned on him. That familiar symbol that had flashed on his screen was a summoning circle. He knew he had recognized it from somewhere. That meant that when he typed the chant, he had unknowingly summoned a servant.

"Wait! Yes!" Blake finally spit out as he jumped to his feet. "I am! Err… Your master, that is!"

Lancer sighed. "Would it have killed you to answer that sooner?" The warrior wiped his hand over his face. "I didn't realize my master would be a bumbling mess."

Blake's face took on a sheepish smile, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well I didn't realize that I was about to become a master. If I had known, I might have been more put together."

Lancer looked at his master with an astonished face. "So you're telling me, that you, the man I'm supposed to go to battle with, against twelve other people, did not mean to summon me?"

Blake have a shrug. "Look man, I didn't even know I could summon you; let alone do it intentionally."

The servant's face took on a look of horror. This was bad. This was very bad. "Every time you open your mouth, things seem worse and worse." The man let out a deep huff. "At least you're a mage."

"Okay…" Blake trailed. Why would Suingi think he was a mage? He was just a kid from California. "...but I'm not."

Lancer facepalmed. He had to of been given the most oblivious master on the face of the earth. The kid didn't mean to summon him, he seemed young, and he didn't know that he was a mage. The kid clearly had high levels of mana pulsing through his magic circuits. That very mana was the mana that was keeping Lancer anchored to this world.

"Great." The servant sighed. "This is just wonderful."

"So..." Blake began. "I'm guessing we should get to Berlin."

This statement took the warrior by surprise and it showed.

"So you know about the war?" The man asked. "But you didn't mean to summon me? How does that work?"

Blake opened his mouth to tell the servant about the story he had begun to write, but quickly thought better of it. He would just sound like a rambling madman if he started talking about that. The boy closed his mouth and thought before he spoke.

"Yes, I know about the war, and the grail, and the wish." He finally answered.

Lancer sighed in relief. At least the kid wasn't completely clueless. But, something still bagged at him.

"But you didn't mean to summon me."

The kid nodded. "Correct."

"How does that work." The warrior asked.

"No clue." His master shrugged. "Guess it just does."

He was lying, Lancer could tell he was, but decided to just drop it. The only thing that mattered was the war.

"I guess it does." Lancer responded. "So what's your wish? You may not have intended to be in the war, but you must have one."

Blake thought a moment; resting his chin between his finger and thumb. Then he looked back.

"A safe world where everyone I love can smile freely." The kid said.

"That's such a cliché wish." Lancer sighed.

An irritated look crossed Blake's face. "Oh yeah? And what's yours?"

The spearman's face was solemn. "To be reunited with my wife and child."

"Man, I can't even make fun of yours. That's actually a super respectable wish." Blake pouted.

This got a chuckle from the servant. The kid may have seemed clueless and níeve, but he wasn't a bad person.

"I guess that concludes the terms of our pact." Lancer stated. "Will you fight with me in this grail war?"

The servant stuck out his hand and Blake eyed it for a moment. He didn't know the exact nature of this grail war, since he himself hadn't gotten through that part of planning when he had begun to write, but he knew he was willing to find out.

"I will." He said as he shook the warrior's hand.

Before they had even separated hands, Lancer tensed up and spun around.

"Master," He hissed. "There's a servant outside. It seems it's Master is with it as well. I'm going to take them out." The servant went into spiritual form as he ran at the wall.

"Lancer!" Blake called out after him. He knew who the pair at his door were and they weren't a threat. "Wait!"

The boy threw his door open and ran to the front of the house. Lancer was squaring off against a short, sword wielding, gnome.

"Lancer!" Blake yelled. "Stop!"

His servant jumped back and stood in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Lancer hissed.

Blake ignored him and spoke to the master of the other servant.

"It looks like we both have some explaining to do...Ben."


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This is completely for entertainment purposes.**

**Chapter 3 - BLAKE**

Blake was nervous about the train ride. He figured his other self would throw a curveball at him and have him be attacked on the train. Yet, he wasn't sure who the other him would pick to attack him. Blake didn't even know the identities of the other masters or their servants, since he himself had not gotten that far in his thought process before Lancer had been summoned.

The man idly gazed out the window, deep in thought. It was dark out now. Why he had decided to take a late train to Berlin was beyond him. Well, actually it wasn't. It was the other him's doing. It's not like he could just choose something different. Even his awareness of his other self was of that self's doing. It vexed him to no end that mere words being typed on a phone or laptop were deciding his destiny. Then again, he would have been writing the exact same story if he weren't the Blake in the story.

He stretched out. He was the only one in this cabin of the train. He had done so, so that there'd be no chance of another master spotting his command seals. He tried covering them with gloves, but he found that the seals just shimmered through the gloves and made no difference.

He looked out the window once more and recalled his conversation with Ben back at the house.

**Five Hours Earlier**

"So that's why you planned your trip out here, at this point?' Blake inquired to his friend. "To participate in the Sixth Holy Grail War?" Blake took on a feigned hurt. "My friend, you wound me," he said as place the back of his hand over his forehead in a dramatic fashion. "And here I thought you were coming out here because you missed your dear old pal."

Ben rolled his eyes at his friends antics and gave a sigh. "Oh cry me a river. Of course that was still part of it, but i had had this planned from before you even moved out here. I've known about this war for a little over a year now."

"And you didn't tell me about it?!" Blake asked in shock. Why would his best friend keep this from...oh. "Because that's the way the story was meant to be written. Damn him and his dramatic mind.

Ben sighed again and rubbed his temples. "I wanted to keep you out of it, so I could fight as I see fit." he explained. "But it seems that that point is moot now. How did you even summon a servant? You're not a mage."

Blake shrugged. "I'm not sure. Lancer seems to think that I'm a mage, but I've never used magic before in my life. How did you summon a servant? You're not a mage either."

"You're partially correct." Ben stated. "Though I am not a mage in the terms that you are thinking, I still possess some of the qualities. I have magic circuits, but the way I generate mana is much different. I'm known as, what those of the magical community would call, an occult mage. I generate mana via a talisman that uses the energy of lingering spirits. It's that mana that I use to channel through my magic circuits."

"How did you find out about the grail war?" Blake asked. "Let me guess, forums that you look into."

Ben looked at him, a bit taken aback. "Well that would be a great guess, because that's exactly how I found out. How did you know that."

Blake opened his mouth to say the truth, but then thought better of it. It's not like anyone would believe him, anyways.

"Just a hunch," he said instead. "But we should figure out a plan for getting to Berlin."

"Could we just drive there?" Ben asked.

Blake gave his friend a sideways look. "I don't have a german license and something tells me that you don't either."

Ben nodded. "Good point."

"We'll use the train station." Blake said. "It'll be cheaper than renting a cab. I'm sure your ride here wasn't cheap."

"It wasn't." Ben mumbled. "We should also ride separately. That way we reduce our chances of both of us getting taken out.

Blake nodded.

**Present**

A knock came at the door, pulling Blake from his thoughts. The door slid open quietly and what appeared to be a teenage girl, came in. She had disheveled, chin length, brown hair, and wore all black clothing. When she noticed him, her mouth formed an "o". She looked at her ticket and then looked at the cabin number. When she became content that they matched, she sat down. Blake stayed alert, ready to have Lancer materialize himself.

"What are you doing in here?" Blake asked cautiously. "This cabin was supposed to be private."

The girl gave a little laugh that unsettled Blake. "I paid extra money to insure I got a cabin, but they were all full, so I convinced them to let me share one with someone." The lights flickered a bit and the girl smiled even wider into an almost insane level of smile. "But who knew I'd be so lucky to catch a master on my way to the war."

Blake's eyes went wide. Where was her servant? Why did she risk coming here without them? The man attempted to expand his senses, in order to feel something out of the ordinary, but he couldn't feel anything besides the deadly intent rising from the girl.

Blake was about to have Lancer skewer her, when the door to the cabin opened once more. It was the train steward. The steward looked at the two passengers and walked over to the boy. "I apologize sir." He said. "We didn't have any other cabins for her to go to, so we will offer you a complimentary dinner for the troubles."

"_You're gonna owe me a lot more than a complimentary dinner if I survive this._" Blake thought in his head. But he just nodded. The man moved closer and asked for his ticket so he could upgrade.

As Blake reached into his pocket for the ticket, he saw a glint from the corner of his eye and moved out of the way just as the steward slammed a knife into the spot he had been occupying only a moment earlier. He looked up from the the impaled seat in shock as the face of the steward melted away to reveal that of a woman with a pale face and long black hair. Her black eyes glinted with slight amusement as she drew her knife from the seat cushion.

With blinding speed, the black haired woman moved in front of her master as a spear aimed to impale the girl. The black haired woman knocked aside the spear head and it slammed into the seat next to her master's head. The girl just began to laugh in hysteria.

"Assassin." The girl called through her laughter. "Make his death interesting!"

An almost annoyed look crossed Assassin's face, but she just shrugged and exploded towards Lancer with the same unimaginable speed she had used before, but there was one thing Assassin hadn't accounted for. Lancer's speed was part of his legend.

Lancer nearly disappeared from sight with how quick he moved and caught Assassin off guard as he struck his spear clean through her left leg. Assassin cried out in immense pain as her leg began to decay from where the spear was impaled.

"What is this?!" Assassin cried out. "This spear! It's not normal! What have you done, Lancer?!"

"I'd tell you." The spearman responded as he yanked the spear out of Assassin's leg. He then proceeded to slice at here throat with the blade of the spear. "But I'm afraid you'll be too dead to comprehend it."

Assassin crumpled to the ground and her master looked terrified for the first time since she had walked into the cabin. Clearly, things had not gone the way she had planned. Slowly the fear turned to anger as she began to shout at Assassin. "Assassin! I thought we were gonna have fun in this war and kill lots of people! You promised me blood! You promised me entertainment! How dare you lie to me! You're useless! Completely and utterly useless!"

Lancer looked at Blake. "Your orders master?"

This girl was giving Blake a headache. He just wanted her to shut up. "Kill her, but make it quick. I'm tired of hearing that high pitched shriek she calls a voice."

Lancer leveled his spear at the girl's face and moved to thrust it through. That's when a knife came from below and buried itself in his right arm. Lancer grimaced in pain as the knife was pulled out just as quickly as it had entered. Lancer looked down to see a very alive Assassin, though it seemed that the shallow cut on her neck was not doing so well.

"Master." Assassin said to the brown haired girl in a horse voice. "We should go. We have lost the advantage here."

Her master, who had begun to smile and laugh again instantly started to frown. "What are you talking about?! We can't leave now! Things have just gotten good!"

"If we don't leave now, he will kill us. There is no doubt in my mind."

"What makes you think we'd let you leave." Blake questioned.

"Because if you chase us, Lancer knows that you'd be at a disadvantage. Observe where I stabbed him." Assassin responded coolly.

Blake looked at Lancer's wound and saw a skull shaped mark that didn't look unlike the command seals on Assassin's master's hand.

"If I strike there once more, he will die. Are you willing to risk your servant to take down a wounded one?" Assassin mocked.

Blake grit his teeth and let out a deep huff of frustration. "Fine. Go. We'll see you in Berlin." The boy responded. "And we will kill you there."

The brown haired girl gave a laugh. "We look forward to it." She winked.

With that, Assassin kicked the window open, grabbed her master, and jumped out of the train.

Blake and Lancer stayed alert for the rest of the ride to Berlin.

**A/N: Yes, I know what I did with Assassin's Noble Phantasm, and no, I'm not apologizing. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think. All criticism is welcome, as long as it is constructive. I'm attempting to become a better writer, so all the help I can get would be much appreciated. Thank you! **

**-B**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4 - BLAKE**

As the train pulled into the station, Blake hastily gathered his belongings and got off; being sure to keep track of his surroundings as he moved. Lancer's wound worried him. One more strike from Assassin's knife and Lancer was toast. Blake mentally kicked himself. They should have skewered the girl before she even sat down. If they had… No. That wasn't the right course of action. There had been a chance that she wasn't a master. If they had been wrong and killed her, they would have a murder on their hands. They had done the right thing.

The train station was busy as always. People bustled and talked; walking in every direction imaginable. It was nearly impossible to keep track of everyone. Just the thought that Assassin could be any one of those people gave Blake the chills. Gradually, the boy's heart rate began to increase as anxiety began to take root in him. This was bad. Assassin could come out of nowhere and wipe them out. They had to get out of there. They had to run. Run. They needed to run. Blake's breathing began to pick up as the anxiety sunk in deeper, but right as he was about to start running, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the softened face of Lancer.

The servant wore a tan suit with a white shirt and red tie. A tan hat that matched his overcoat rested firmly over his long white hair. He gave a gentle smile to the boy and squeezed his shoulder.

"You're alright, kid." he said with a surprising gentleness. "Just breathe. Their not going to attack us in the middle of public. There would be too many witnesses. So relax. You're going to be ok.'

The two stood there until Blake's breathing evened out and his heart rate returned to normal. The boy took a deep breath and nodded. He had never had a panic attack before. It had seemingly come out of nowhere.

Finally, he looked back up at Lancer and nodded. "I'm ok now. Let's go."

Lancer nodded back, but before he could turn and start walking, Blake spoke again.

"And Lancer?"

"Yes, Master?" the servant responded.

"Thank you." the boy smiled in appreciation.

Lancer smiled and nodded back. When he turned around, he said, "Don't be getting soft on me, Master. We still have a war to win."

With that, he began to walk again. Blake simply chuckled and followed him.

The two made it through the rest of the train station without incident, but opted to walk to the apartment. They didn't want to risk being attacked in a confined area again. Besides, the apartment was only about three miles from the station, so it was an easy trek.

As they walked along the sidewalks of the crowded and bustling streets, a familiar looking girl passed by Blake. He turned abruptly to make sure he had seen correctly, but the girl who had passed him was nowhere to be seen. Had he actually seen her, or was his mind playing tricks on him? If he had, why was she in Berlin? Blake just shrugged. It must have been his imagination. There would be no reason for that girl to be in the city.

"Did you see something, Master?" Lancer asked.

The boy shook his head. "I thought I saw an old..." he paused for a moment. "...acquaintance." He lied. He didn't want to have Lancer worrying about him being distracted. Blake already felt that the servant worried enough as it was.

Lancer looked at his master with skepticism. The younger man seemed to hold more things back than he seemed to tell. Lancer sighed. His master was now deep in thought. What was going on in that kid's head? Him master's distracted face nagged at him though.

"Would you deem this "acquaintance" a threat?" the servant asked.

"No." Blake responded absentmindedly.

What had this man so deep in thought? Lancer could only hope that his master was being truthful with him.

"Then let's hurry and get to the apartment. I'd rather not have you in the middle of another servant fight tonight." the servant finally said.

Blake gave a slight nod and without another word, the two made their way to the apartment.

**A/N: Alright, alright, alright. Another chapter down. Who was the mysterious girl? Will Blake and Lancer be able to get rid of Assassin's curse? Find out...next time?...well maybe not next time...but SOON, on Servant Files. **

**A/N 2: Also, thank you to all of to who are reading this story. If you could just do me favor and write me a review and let me know how I could improve my writing, that would be so so amazing. Thank you again, and I hope you guys are enjoying the story! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any relate properties. This is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Chapter 5 - BEN**

Ben groaned as he pulled vials of his blood from his bag. Blake was late. The occultist had arrived first, since his train had come a couple of hours earlier. His friend's train, however, should have arrived an hour ago, and a cab should have taken only about ten minutes to get to the apartment from the station. Ben had checked into their B&B Air B&B already and was drawing wards to mask their servants' presence.

The man sighed and pulled out his phone to call his tardy friend. It rang three times before the line clicked and a voice answered.

"Hey, bro, what's up?" Blake's oblivious voice asked.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Where are you? Did you give the cab driver the wrong address?"

"No," the voice answered. "Lancer and I decided to walk, due to a situation that occured on the train. I'll fill you in on the details when we get there. We shouldn't be too much longer."

Situation? Ben wondered what happened, but decided he'd just wait for Blake to arrive before he prodded him.

"Sounds good, man." Ben said. "See you soon."

"See ya," the voice responded, and the line went dead.

Ben sat in thought. It seemed his friend had had an interesting trip as well. Though he doubt that the other man had been approached by the same person.

Ben recalled his trip.

**4 HOURS EARLIER**

Ben didn't like the idea of having a seperate cabin from everyone. Blake should have known that masters are less likely to be attacked by other masters or servants in public, but the brown haired man had insisted. Now Ben found himself alone in a cabin, just begging to be attacked. As far as strategy went, his companion was out of his element.

Blake hated strategy games. He disliked any strategy based video game, easily became bored of risk, and just flat out sucked at chess. Ben on the other hand, excelled at strategy games, and prided himself on his proficiency in them. This contrast between them, however, didn't mean that Blake was stupid. On the contrary, Blake was highly intelligent, and was able to catch on to things quickly. It was only his interest level on certain subject that either helped or hindered him.

The occultist looked up as the door to his cabin unlocked and slid open.

"_Saber,"_ the man communicated in his head. "_Be ready to attack if they are hostile."_

"_Understood, Ben."_ his servant responded.

A young woman, with dark hair and turquoise eyes, walked into the cabin and sat down across from him. She wore a maroon blouse and a black pencil skirt. A portion of her hair was tied up near the back of her head, but most of her hair remained recognized her. He had bumped into her at the airport, and had caught sight of her at the train station.

"So you're the master of the saber servant this time around." she chuckled. She must be a master

"I'm not going to respond to that." Ben scowled. "I recommend that you leave, before I do something drastic."

The woman sighed. "Just hear me out. Once you do, I promise I'll leave."

Ben's curiosity piked. "Fine," he sighed. "Say what you gotta say."

"Well, I should probably start by introducing myself." she began. "My name is Rin Tohsaka; head of the Tohsaka mage family."

Ben's face went pale. Rin Tohsaka was a mage of great standing and influence. Even Occult types like himself had heard of the great House of Tohsaka. In fact, it was rumored that this particular Tohsaka had participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War that had occurred only four years earlier. If she was a part of this grail war, then his and Blake's chances of winning had just plummeted drastically. He had no doubt that if she had wanted to kill him, she would have done it already.

"Well I guess it's only fair that I introduce myself as well." Ben attempted in recovery from his shock. "My name is-"

"Benjamin Conners." Rin said before him. "Yes, I know. I've done my research on each master already."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oh really now?"he asked skeptically. "Tell me about me. Let's see how much you really know."

"Your name is Benjamin Conners.' Rin began to list off. " You're an american from the Californian town of Baxterville. You're an Occult Mage that specializes in spirit channeling. You still live at home with your father and you attend classes at Morano Community College. Also, you're the master of Saber."

Ben's face flushed further. How did she know so much? He had only just arrived here and she already knew his magic type and place of origin. She really had done her homework. The occultist hung his head.

"What do you want?" he asked in defeat.

"I'm sure you've realized, at this point, that this grail war is a bit different than the one that takes place in Fuyuki, Japan" Rin began to explain. "Not only is the location different, but so is the nature of the servants. In this war, servants are of the master's own creation. They are ideas given form through the grail and cast upon the seven classes."

Ben nodded. He had found it odd that he hadn't summoned a servant from history, but instead had summoned one of his very own Dungeons and Dragons characters. His saber servant was a mystic gnome named Fuddle Studdlechamp. What Rin said made sense.

"Furthermore, I'd like to ask for your assistance in investigating these strange anomalies and above all else, destroying the grail." she said; dead serious.

Ben blanched, but then remastered his face. "Why would you want to destroy the grail? That doesn't seem like the goal of a mage of your standing."

Rin kept a neutral expression. "Though the war is different in nature, I'm afraid that the grail may not be." The magus's expression turned to that of contempt. "The grail has caused ruin in the past and I can't stand for it happening again. This grail could be different, or maybe it couldn't. I'm not willing to roll the dice on that."

Ben nodded in thought. Rin's reasoning was solid.

"What servant do you posses?" the man asked. "If you answer truthfully,that might make me more inclined to join you."

Rin nodded in understanding. "I posses the archer servant."

Interesting. With her on their side, they would have possession of all three servants from the great knight classes.

"One more thing." Ben began. "How do you know so much about me?"

Rin sighed. "I guess it would be fair to explain that to you. I've been working with the Mage's Association since the last grail war concluded. What we do is simple. It's our job to keep track of various magical anomalies. As for how I know your servant is Saber and how I know of you, that is equally as simple. Six out of the seven servants were summoned on the Eurasian continent; the last one occurring only yesterday, approximately 650 kilometers from here."

Ben nodded. That matched the timestamp of about when Blake had summoned Lancer.

Rin continued. "The association had me keep tabs and gather intel on each anomaly as they occurred. The remaining anomaly occurred in America, about a year ago, so we sent familiars to investigate. The familiars are how we found out so much about you. But you were careful. You never revealed your servant to our familiars' eyes. Since we had discovered the locations and classes of the five servants on this continent, this left us with a fifty fifty shot at guessing which servant you had. Lancer? Or Saber? Then, during the anomaly yesterday, Lancer was summoned. Therefore we deduced that the servant from America was none other than Saber."

Ben nodded again, that was a fair deduction, but he didn't want to be watched.

"Mage's Association or not, I don't appreciate being watched." Ben stated. "If you want my help, from here on out, no more eyes on me or my servant. Those are my terms."

Rin thought a moment and then spoke. "Done. No more eyes on you."

"Then I'll join you." Ben said as he stuck out his hand.

Rin shook it and then leaned back again. "Will Lancer's master be willing to join as well?"

Ben shook his head. "I can't say for sure. He's a bit unpredictable at times, so that's up in the air. But, if you ask him nicely enough, he might be willing to play a long; at least for a bit."

Rin nodded. "I'll ask him when I see him next." The magus's face went dark. "I also wanted to warn you about Berserker and it's master; Einsbern."

Ben gave a laugh. "Trust me. I think everyone fears the berserker class to a certain extent."

"That's not what I meant." Rin said patiently. "Servants carry traces of their master's mana, since it's mana that keeps them tethered to the world. But, Berserker doesn't just posses it's master's mana. It posses traces of your mana and traces of Blake Ryan's mana."

Confusion crossed Ben's face. "Why would that be?"

"As I said earlier, servants were summoned from the imaginations of the masters in this war." Rin explained "This form of summoning can be times more powerful than simply summoning a hero from history, but requires great imagination to achieve this greater amount of power. Someone close to either you or Ryan may of had the idea to steal an idea. Since imagination is translated into magic power, in this war, it's linking the two of you to Berserker,"

Ben thought a moment. "Well if that someone is an Einsbern, I can't help you narrow down the thief. I've never known an Einsbern, so they can't of exactly stolen anything from my imagination."

Rin rolled her eyes. "She may not of been going by her actual name when she met you or Ryan." She then sighed. "I just thought I should warn you, since that could mean that Berserker has three potential mana sources." The magus then checked her watch. "We should save the rest of this conversation for when I see your friend. I'll see you soon."

With that, the Tohsaka head stood and walked out of the cabin.

**PRESENT**

A sequenced knock came from the door and broke Ben from his thoughts. Knock, knock, knockknockknock.

That was Blake's code knock. The occultist moved to the door and opened it to reveal his friend and a modernly dressed Lancer.

**A/N: And that's another one for the books. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what y'all think, and let me know what you think I can do better.**

**-B**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any other related properties. This story if for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6 - BLAKE/BEN**

Blake tossed Ben a sugar-free redbull and popped one open himself. "Sorry man, that's all they had." Blake rubbed the back of his head. "They don't really have any Bang here."

Ben waved off the apology as Blake took the seat on the other side of the table. There was nothing his friend could do about that, so he popped the redbull open and took a gulp.

"So you were attacked by Assassin, on your train ride." Ben clarified. Blake nodded. "And Lancer got cursed by Assassin's Noble Phantasm." Blake nodded again; self loathing apparent on his face. "I guess that will be our first order of business," Ben laughed. "So much for your plan to stay out of sight. I had an encounter with a master as well. Luckily mine just wanted to talk, or they would have definitely wrecked my shit."

"Sorry man," Blake mumbled as he took a sip of his drink. Just wanted to talk? Blake set down his can and put his feet up on the table. "What did they want to talk about?"

"Turns out, she wanted to make an alliance with us." Ben laughed.

"She?" Blake inquired.

A knock came from behind Blake, on the other side of the apartment door. Blake wondered who would be knocking at this hour. Whoever it was, they weren't up to anything good.

"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear." Ben muttered. "You might want to answer that."

Blake gave his friend a confused look; rolled his eyes when his friend motioned to the door, and got up out of his chair. He hated it when someone knew more about the situation than he did. The man opened the door until the chain-lock caught, and peaked out. There, he found an extremely attractive woman in what was probably the most convincing Rin Tohsaka cosplay he had ever seen.

The man closed the door, and turned to Ben with a confused look.. "There's some chick out there in a Rin Tohsaka cosplay."

Ben looked at his companion sideways, with a look of disbelief on his face. "I'm pretty sure that that isn't a cosplay."

Blake laughed. "Are you serious? That has to be a cosplay! It's not like Rin Tohsaka is…" the man trailed off when three loud bangs came from the door. The girl obviously didn't like being made to wait. He then looked to the occultist. The blonde's face told him he was being serious.

"Oh my God." Blake's face went pale. "She's real?!"

Ben nodded his head and more loud bangs came from the door.

Blake stared wide-eyed at the door. Rin Tohsaka was real. The other him had really thrown him for a loop. Maybe this was a good thing. If Rin Tohsaka was real and wanted to be their ally, then they might be able to pull off a win.

More pounds came. "Are you going to let me in, or what?!" a frustrated female voice shouted from the other side.

Blake gathered himself, slid the chain-lock to the side, and opened the door to reveal a fuming Rin Tohsaka. The girl had been tapping her foot impatiently, and when the boy opened the door, she looked up at him with a glare. The second their eyes locked, a redness came over Rin's face and her glare softened as she turned her face to the side.

"Took you long enough to answer," she grumbled. Then she looked back to him. "My name is Rin Tohsaka. Blake Ryan, I'm guessing?"

"That would be me." Blake laughed as a bit of a blush was beginning to cross his face. The girl was even more attractive now that he knew that it wasn't a cosplay.

"I met with your friend on the train." Rin continued. "I'm guessing he's here?"

"Right in here!" Ben called from behind Blake.

Blake stepped aside to reveal his lighter haired friend, who waved at Rin when he finally got full view of her.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't track me anymore." Ben said. "Don't tell me you're not keeping your end of the deal."

Rin shrugged. "I haven't broken our deal in the slightest, Conners. I said I would stop tracking you, and I have. However, I made no such accommodations for Mr. Ryan. It just so happens that the two of you are conveniently in the same apartment. It's not my fault that you didn't specify your partner in our little bargan."

Blake's eyes widened. She had been tracking him? What the hell? That was totally crossing boundaries if she wanted to make an alliance with them. Blake shook his head. No. It made sense that she was tracking them. This was war, and information on your potential enemies or allies was vital. He couldn't fault her for that, but still. It frustrated him to know that someone had been tracking him.

Ben grit his teeth in annoyance. The Tohsaka head always had an answer for everything, didn't she.

The occultist sighed and closed his eyes in defeat. "Whatever. Nothing I can do about it now." He opened his eyes and looked at the magus. "Come on in. Besides, you had something you wanted to discuss with Blake, right?"

Blake, who had been deep in his thoughts, came out of his own head at the sound of his name being mentioned. "Huh? What?" This was all too much for him. He knew he had planned to merge the Type-Moon world and the real world in his story, but he never imagined that he would be experiencing it first hand. The other him was definitely keeping him on his toes, but the more Blake thought about it, the more the ideas seemed like they could have originated from his own mind.

"Right," Rin nodded as she brushed past Blake. The girl then sat down at the table where Blake had been sitting and motioned to the chair to her left. Blake gave her a withering glare, which she promptly ignored, and took the seat to her right. The girl's eyebrow twitched at the petty display of rebellion, but she continued with an even voice. "I assume you already understand that this grail war is different than your typical Holy Grail War, correct?"

"More than you think I do." Blake stated.

"Unlikely," Rin deflected. "But that's besides the point. I'm glad you understand the basics though, Ryan. That'll save us some time."

Blake's face reddened. Who did she think she was? Granted, she was a superior master, but still. That know-it-all attitude of hers really got under his skin.

"Just get on with it," he grumbled.

"Of course." Rin said with a smug smile that slightly cracked her neutral demeanor. "Let us continue. Assuming you grasp the situation, I would like to ask for your help. Ben already agreed to help me, but I have a feeling that that agreement, though not stated, is conditional on your willingness to cooperate as well."

"Okay," Blake nodded. "Then I'm sure you don't mind me asking a few questions?"

"Ask away," Rin motioned.

"Why do you want our help specifically?" Blake asked. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but it's kind of suspicious."

Rin gave him a look that told him to elaborate.

"Think about it from our point of view." Blake continued. "The head of a prestigious mage family is asking for the assistance of two, and I really do hate admitting this, lesser masters, in a war that should have much more competent allies in it. So, why us? Is it so we're easier to pick off when we reach the end stages of the war? That would certainly be a good plan if you want to win the grail."

At the last part, the Tohsaka woman held up her hand to stop him. "It seems, I should probably make you aware of my intentions in this war, before we continue this conversation."

Blake sighed and motioned for her to proceed.

"Right," she nodded. "Like I told your friend here, I have no intention of winning the grail. I only want to destroy it."

"You what?!" Blake shouted as he shot out of his chair and slammed his palms on the table. The man looked to his blonde companion. "Are you out of your mind?! You agreed to this?! What about your wish?!"

Ben stared unflinchingly back into his friend's angry eyes. "Just hear her out man. She's not done."

Blake sat back down; stewing in his frustration. "Fine," he muttered. "Please continue, Ms. Tohsaka. Why do you want to destroy the grail?"

"It brings nothing but sadness and ruin to those around it." the woman said with sorrow in her eyes. "The Grail is cause for many horrible occurrences. The great fire in Fuyuki, murders of hundreds of innocents, and the death of my father." Her sorrow seemed to deepen. "All of that, because some mages wanted a dumb, wish-granting cup. Even I fought for the grail, but doing so didn't ever bring me closer to my dream."

The anger in Blake dissipated. The woman before him was slowly falling apart in front of him. She was being genuine. She truly wanted nothing to do with the grail at all.

"And as for why I chose you two to work with, the answer is quite simple." Rin continued; shaking off her break in emotion. "Out of the six other masters, you two seemed the most trustworthy. The other four were either complete nutjobs, or too deeply rooted in their agendas to be persuaded. Furthermore, what you two lack in power, you both make up for in reliability and honesty. In war, that can be invaluable."

Blake nodded. Everything the Tohsaka mage had just said, made sense. She genuinely only seemed interested in destroying the grail.

"Alright," Blake finally said. "I'll join you on the condition that you help me out with a certain something."

Tohsaka raised an eyebrow. "What would that be, Ryan?"

"First off, call me Blake." the man requested. "And second, I need your Archer to take out Assassin. Lancer and I had a run-in with her and her master on the train. She stabbed Lancer with some sort of cursed knife, and if she stabs him there again, with that knife, then he'll die. I would ask Ben to send Saber, but I figured that Archer would be a better match against a cursed knife like that."

Ben gave Blake a confused look. "How did you know she had the archer servant. I never told you that."

Blake's face flushed. Crap. He couldn't say how he knew that.

The man just shrugged and gave a nervous laugh. "Random assumption, I guess."

Both Rin and Ben didn't look satisfied with the answer, but decided to drop it. Blake breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I'll have Archer track down Assassin for you, and in return you'll help me destroy the grail, correct?" Rin asked.

"That would be correct." Blake nodded, and the two shook hands.

"Well," Ben began. "Now that we have that out of the way, I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave the apartment for a bit. There's a ritual I need to perform, and it will most likely not be safe in here, while I perform it."

Blake and Rin nodded, and decided to go up to the roof and wait.

When they had exited the room, Ben sat down, held out an amulet, and began to chant. After a while, spirits began to rise up from the floor and flow into the amulet.

**A/N: There's one more! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you did, please leave a review and let me know what you thought. If you didn't, let me know what I could do to make this better. The next chapter should be up in the next couple of days. I have the complete story done, I just have to rework some things and add a bit more detail, so expect chapters to come at you within 1-2 days, if not less. Thanks for your time!**

**-B**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7 - Blake/Rin**

Rin led Blake up on to the roof while they waited for Ben to finish with his ritual. The night was warm and clear, and the lights of the city's nightlife shined brightly below. Blake had never been to Berlin in the year he had lived in Germany, but it was a beautiful sight to behold. He couldn't even imagine where he would have been at, in his life, if he hadn't decided to leave America.

The two twenty-year-olds were seated near the ledge of the roof in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence. In fact, it was quite a comfortable one. Blake had questions though. The man leaned back onto the ground and laced his hands behind his head as a barrier between the ground and his scalp. "So, where's Emiya?" he finally asked.

Rin looked down at him in confusion. She had been in deep thought before his question. "Why would Emiya be here?"

"Well you guys fought together in the last war, right Ms. Tohsaka?" Blake responded.

"Yes, four years ago we fought in the grail war together." Rin frowned. "He decided to hang up his role as a mage after he basically died at the end of the war. Soon after that, he married my younger sister, Sakura." the woman paused a moment then spoke again. "And please. Call me Rin

"Ah, I see." Blake chuckled.

The two coexisted in silence for another stretch of time until Rin spoke again, "What's the story with you and that occultist down there?" She asked. "Two of the strongest servants don't just tend to team up from the get go."

"Shouldn't you already have that information, Ms. Know-it-all?" Blake teased.

"I should," Rin said as she went down on her back as well. "But I don't. I only have information dating back to a year ago. You were only there for maybe a week, or so, after my familiar had been deployed to investigate Conners."

More silence came over the pair as they looked up at the twinkling stars. Blake answered her question.

"We've been friends for over ten years." He smiled. "I figured teaming up is appropriate, since my wish is a bit vague for this war. I wasn't sure what wish Ben's servant had, but I had fully intended on swapping servants with him and letting him win if we made it to the final two. That way him and Lancer could win. It seems that that isn't the case anymore, though."

"What was your wish?" Rin turned her head to see his face.

"To create a world where those I care about, can smile freely." Blake smiled wryly; keeping his eyes to the sky. "Pretty lame, right?"

Rin shook her head and smiled. "Not at all. A friend once told me that fighting for those you love, could never be a mistake. I took those words to heart, so your wish is far from lame."

A plane flew overhead and blinked like a moving star.

"So why did you summon a servant?" Rin asked. "You have no interest in winning, so why even participate?"

"Honestly, it was an accident." Blake's wry smile returned to his face. "I didn't even mean to summon a servant, and then all of a sudden, one was at my disposal. I don't even know mage-craft and I'm not a mage."

"You're not even a mage?!" Rin bolted up. "How did the grail drag you into this war, then?"

Blake sighed. He had to tell someone how he knew these things, or he'd go crazy. Maybe if he told Rin, she might be able to convince him once and for all that the other him was just a delusion. "Do you want the honest truth?"

"Yes, I want to know." She huffed.

"Let's just say another me is in control of this war and our actions." Blake sighed. It sounded even more ridiculous when it was vocalized. "I'd even go as far as to say that he controls this very world."

He waited for it. He waited for her to scoff at him and tell him that that was impossible. He waited for her to laugh. He waited for her to call him a moron. He even waited for her to simply just get up and leave. None of those responses came.

"That could explain many of the events occurring in this war." She said in total seriousness.

Blake looked at her dumbfounded. "Huh-"

"Through my studies and attempts at recreating the "Gem Sword Zelretch", I came to discover that there are multiple dimensions."

Blake looked at the woman with a dumbfounded face. She believed him?

"But," Rin continued. "Saying that this alternate version of you is controlling this world, is a stretch." She paused and thought a moment. "Think of it more as him recording the events of another reality. This reality specifically. That's what authors are. They perceive other realities and record them."

Blake's head was spinning. So this world wasn't being controlled by another version of him? The thought came as both a relief and a slight fear.

"That's some crazy shit." Blake muttered.

"It gets crazier." Rin giggled. She was enjoying the confusion on his face too much. "The reason why you can even perceive that alternate version of yourself is because dimensional strands converge when two of the exact same people are about to take the exact same action. This really jumbles up the memories of the affected, though. Luckily for you, the memories were similar enough to where they barely affected you."

He couldn't wrap his head around this. This was too much, too fast. What was going on? He had fully expected to be called crazy, but the magus before him had given him an explanation. Everything seemed so crazy and unbelievable. Not any less unbelievable than the concept of another him controlling this world, but still.

"By the way." Rin broke him out of his stupor. "Knowing what I know now. I'd like to verify something. Give me your hand."

Blake, still in mass confusion, sat up and surrendered his hand to Rin. The woman pulled out a gem and pressed it to his palm. Instantly, white lines began to glow throughout his body. As his body began to glow, something began to glow in his jacket pocket. This didn't go unnoticed by Rin. "Your magic circuits are active..." she said in surprise. "You said you weren't a mage!"

"I'm not! I've never used mage-craft before in my life!" Blake defended.

"Really?" Rin retorted. "Then why am I seeing the energy signature of a diviner mage?!"

"A what?" Blake has no idea what she was talking about. "A divine mage?"

"No!" Rin groaned. "A divine-er mage! You know, like fortune telling."

"Really?" Blake laughed. "That's stupid. Like I'd ever resort to such a lame form of mage-craft."

Rin rolled her eyes and shot her hand inside his jacket pocket. Blake tried to stop her, but her hand already had gotten what she wanted and was already back to her.

"What are you doing?!" Blake yelled.

Rin opened her hand to reveal a tarot deck.

"You'd never resort to such a lame form of mage-craft?" Rin mocked.

"Whatever." Blake swiped the cards away from the woman. "So I'm good with tarot cards. It doesn't mean I'm this "divine mage" that you're calling me. No cute little parlor trick is going to convince me otherwise."

"Divinerrrrr!" Rin corrected vehemently. She so wanted to bash the idiot in his face. "And what I did was no "cute little parlor trick" you jerk!" She proceed to press the gem into her arm. Instantly, blue lines began to glow all over her body. "This gem reveals your active magic circuits. The color indicates the kind of mage you are."

"Well that's rather convenient." Blake sighed. "Fine. So I'm a "divine mage". What does that mean. Can I do anything besides "see the future." He said this last part with air quotes.

Rin took in a frustrated breath. This was her life now. She wondered if the diviner insisted on saying "divine mage" just to mess with her. She decided not to waste her breath on correcting him.

"From what my father told me, diviner mages are actually quite rare. Especially the kind that use tarot mage-craft." Rin explained.

"Ok, but what can I do with it." Blake rolled his eyes.

Rin rolled her eyes back. "Getting impatient are we? Well you can do the obvious. You can glimpse the future and gain guidance." She laid back again and gazed at the sky. "And there's the unexpected."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Tarot users were widely feared as the most versatile of offensive mages. So much so, that the Mage's Association deemed them a threat to the mage world, and had most of them eliminated."

Blake shot to his feet in realization and took a couple steps back. When Rin looked up at him, his eyes were wide.

"Don't worry," she sighed. "I'm not going to kill you. In fact, the Tohsakas have always been opposed to that decision. The tarot users have never been a threat to society. Most of them only fought for peace. That's why I'm going to help you. You seem like you share that trait."

"You would go against the association?" Blake asked. "You barely know me."

Rin scoffed. "I wouldn't be going against anyone. I wasn't even born when the order was issued. Even more than that, the Tohsakas never agreed to the order in the first place." She paused a moment. "And besides, I'm curious to see the power a tarot user posses."

"So you'll help teach me?" Blake asked.

"Teach would be a loose term in this case." Rin responded. "Assist in the process? Absolutely."

"What do you get out of this?" Blake asked suspiciously.

The woman smiled at him. "A stronger team."

**A/N: See! Told you it would be out quickly. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As usual, if you liked the chapter, leave a review and maybe follow the story. If you didn't like the chapter, then also leave a review and tell me what i could do better. Thanks again for stopping by!**

**A/N 2: I have also changed the title to the story. **_**Servant Files**_ **made sense when I first started writing this, but by the time I had completed the story, it took a different route than I had initially intended. So I changed the title from **_**Servant Files**_ **to **_**Fate/ ReWorld.**_


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8- BLAKE**

Blake dodged out of the way of a gandr shot and fell to the ground. As his body landed, a chunk of concrete became effectively disintegrated in the space he had occupied only a moment prior. The newly dubbed diviner looked up at satan with wide eyes. That would have been lethal if it had hit.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Blake shouted. "That could have taken my head off!"

Satan gave a sinister smile and held her forefinger out towards him in the shape of a gun. Black and red energy formed into a ball at the tip.

"And it would have if you hadn't gotten out of the way." Satan chimed. "If you want to survive, use your tarot."

"I don't know how!" Blake shouted. "I don't think blasting magic at me is going to change that!"

The two had been over that very fact for the past three days Satan had been training him. The woman insisted on blasting gandr shots at the man and all he could do was dodge. He didn't know what he had to do to tap into his tarot power, but he didn't think that dodging gandr shots all day was the right way to go about it. In fact, it was probably hindering his progress, but the demon refused to use any other method.

The she-devil sighed. "Then I guess you won't be needing your head if you're not going to use it." The energy at the tip of her finger grew until it was as big in diameter as she was tall. "Dodge this."

The magic boomed forward. Blake's eyes went wide. It was too big to avoid, and there was no way he could take it head on. He was going to die. She was going to kill him. Twenty years, and a whole lot of nothing was all he had achieved. He was a failure. He hated failing, so much. He had failed too much in his life. He wouldn't be a failure in death. If he was going to die, he was going to die swinging. He refused to die here.

The tarot deck in his hand began to glow. He needed to block this. He needed something strong enough to defend against this.

An image of a pentacle star flashed into his head and he drew.

"Tarot Suit!" He called. "Ace of Pentacles!"

The card he held up projected a rather large pentacle. Gandr slammed into it with tremendous force and buckled the diviner's arm a bit. The shield cracked slightly, but held, as residual energy exploded around him. The power of Rin's attack had been extraordinary. If it had hit him, he would have died without a trace.

As the smoke cleared, Blake realized he was alive and still standing. His shield was crumbling, true, but he was alive.

"How do you like that?!" He shouted at a surprised Rin. "That was noth-"

Blake's world turned sideways, mid sentence. Wait. No. Not his world. It was Blake himself who was falling sideways. Why did he feel so weak? It was like all the energy had been drained from his body.

"_Blake!"_ A distant voice called out as his vision began to go dark. It was such a cute voice. It sounded so worried about him though. Why would it be worried? He liked the voice. It didn't have to worry.

Blake's head was laying on something soft. It felt nice, even though it seemed to dip in the middle. He wondered briefly what it was, but didn't want to open his eyes or move. He was so so tired.

"_Blake." _A seemingly far off voice called.

The diviner recognized the voice. It was the same voice he had heard before he drifted off. It was such a nice voice.

"_Blake."_ It called louder.

"_Not now voice." _Blake thought peacefully. "_Just let me sleep."_ He wanted the voice's company, but he felt oh so tired. Maybe the voice would stay with him.

"Blake!" The voice ripped the man from his sleep and his eyes snapped opened.

Rin, who had been looking down at him with a worried expression, instantly went red in the face when their eyes met. The woman then tossed Blake away, making his head leave the softness that had been her lap. The man landed with a crash on the cold, unforgiving ground.

"Oww." Blake sat up; rubbing his head. "What the hell was that for?!"

Rin turned her face away and lifted her nose forwards the sky with a "hmph". "You just startled me, that's all."

"You're one to talk!" Blake shouted. "You just tried kill me! That wasn't even a gandr shot! That was more like a gandr nuke!"

"Oh please." Rin scoffed. "You're being a bit over dramatic, don't you think?"

"I think I'm being the perfectly right level of dramatic!" Blake shout. "Any lower, and you would have wrecked the roof! We're only renting here, you know!"

Rin placed her hand dramatically over heart. "Are you trying to tell me that I took things too far?" She asked with feigned hurt. "Me? The head of the Tohsaka family? My my Blake. There are just some things you shouldn't say to a lady."

"Lady my ass!" Blake scoffed. "Something tells me that ladies don't go around throwing lethal levels of gandr at a new mage!"

Rin groaned. "I don't even know what you're so mad about. You activated your power, didn't you?"

"And one hell of a power that was." Blake muttered. "It felt like all the energy had left my body when it was done. Historically not epic for combat."

Rin put her forefinger to her chin and looked up in thought. "I think I might be able to explain that."

Blake motioned for her to continue.

"Well, for gem mages such as myself and the rest of the previous Tohsaka mages, we charge gem with mana throughout the day so they can be used later. This can be very draining if we aren't careful. I think your cards work in similar fashion. You put mana in, a projected version of the card comes out. Now that pentacle you used earlier was the ace. That means it was the first card in the suit and logically would be the weakest."

"Then why did it drain me so much?" Blake asked impatiently.

"Hold on, I'm getting to that." Rin chided him. "Now where was I? Oh right. "The Ace would logically be the weakest card in the suit, as it equals one. The weakest card in a suit shouldn't have been able to block a gandr shot of that magnitude, and shouldn't have been able to drain you that much. So, the reason why both those things is also logical. You simply overcharged the card and made it more powerful than it was ever meant to be. That would explain why it blocked my gandr shot and why it drained you so much after you used it."

"Ok but-" Blake was cut short as he keeled over in pain. His body felt like it was on fire. It was as if his nerves had all had lava pores on them and as if hot lead was being pushed through his veins.

"What the hell is going on?!" Blake cried out. "It hurts! Everything hurts!"

"I was hoping this would happen." Rin smiled."Your magic circuits may have been active this whole time, but they were never used to the extent that you just used them. Hang on."

She was hoping? Maybe she is trying to kill him!

The woman began to dig in the pouch at her hip. Blake heard clicking and clattering as she attempted to locate something. With an "ah ha!" The magus produced an amethyst from the small bag and heald it over his face.

"Open your mouth," she prompted. "You need to swallow this.

"I what?!" He groaned. The pain was getting worse.

"Swallow it!" She yelled. "Now! It will help with the pain."

The man looked up at her wide eyed. "I don't see how-"

Rin dropped the gem down his throat as he started talking. Blake tossed himself on his side as he began coughing a sputtering, but the damage was done. He had swallowed the gem.

The diviner sat up and glared at Rin. "Damn it Rin! Gems aren't painkillers! You can't just conveniently solve all your problems with gems!"

Rin raised an eyebrow at the angry Blake. "That a fact?" She asked in a knowing manner. "Tell me. How's your pain?"

"It's…" Blake began, but then paused. The pain was fading away as they spoke.

The diviner's shoulders slumped forward in defeat. "It's gone." He muttered; feeling foolish. "Thanks Rin…"

"You're very welcome, Blake." Rin snickered. "I guess I should explain."

"Yes please…" Blake mumbled.

Rin's snickered again at the defeated look on his face and continued. "That gem you swallowed stabilized your magic circuits. When you used that burst of mana to overcharge your pentacle, it basically burned out your circuits. Think of it terms of a muscle. When you put a muscle through vigorous activity it gets sore right? Well what you just did was the equivalent of someone who walks all day deciding to run a marathon without training."

"It was your idea to train me in that way." Blake grumbled.

"Exactly," Rin smiled. "I wanted your magic circuits to overload so I could vastly improve the amount of mana you could produce in a given time. Now that I've balanced out the overload, your circuits should be running over a thousand times more efficiently." When she noticed his obviously confused face, she sighed and decided to show mercy on him by simplifying her statement. "More mana available, less drain."

Realization came over the man's face and his mouth went into an "o" shape. Then, he rubbed the back of his head and gave an almost child-like smile. "Thanks Rin! That'll definitely help down the line."

Rin's face turned red at his smile and thanks; making her face away. "It's not like I did it for you." she grumbled. "It would have simply been a hindrance if you couldn't hold your own, so don't go getting the wrong idea."

"Ah." Blake chuckled. "Understood." A wide, excited smile spread across the man's face. "Well now we can really get started, right?!" He was ready to pay Rin back for her earlier stunt.

Rin looked at his pure excitement and laughed. "No, not tonight." she sighed. "Though your magic circuits may be recovered, you are still out of mana for the time being. We should call it a night."

"Aww man!" Blake pouted. "I wanted to try out my new power, again."

"You'll get a chance tomorrow when you're fully recovered." Rin sighed. "You need rest now. Besides, we haven't found any other masters yet, and Archer is till out trying to find Assassin."

The man gave a deep sigh and nodded. "I guess you're right. Guess we should head back down and check on Ben."

Rin nodded and the two headed back down.

**A/N: Power discovered?! Oooooo. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Like always, if you did, leave a review and tell me your favorite part. If you didn't, do the same, but tell me what I could do better. The next chapter will be up within the next couple of days, so be ready for some more.**

**-B**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 9 - Archer**

Assassin was a crafty sort of pray. Just as Archer was about to deduce who Assassin was, she switched forms and he had to start the process of discovering her, all over again. What was more concerning was that her master was nowhere to be found. The servant had traveled along nearly every layline to try and find the missing master. Maybe she was being cloaked. If Archer or his master weren't as kind as they were, Archer would have just carpet bomb the city and wiped out all the threats, but Archer's humanity wouldn't let him do that.

Archer gazed across the cityscape and found the building his master was currently residing in. Even though it was night time, he could still see with perfect clarity. Those were the perks of being in the archer class. His master was currently on the roof training with the woefully lacking diviner mage she had discovered. The boy had no right to be a master. He was as weak as they came. The only thing about him that was beneficial to Rin, was the boy's servant. That particular lancer was pretty remarkable.

Archer sighed. He had spent enough time contemplating his master and her choices. It was time to get back to work. The servant pulled another one of his gems out and crushed it. A sensory wave rippled over the city and lit up with every point of mana visible to him. Still nothing on Assassin or her master, What had Rin said? Assassin could hide her presence. How can you find something that can hide their presence? Then it hit him. He had to pinpoint the places with the least amount of presence in them.

He crushed another gem and focused on areas where there seemed to be a disturbing amount of nothing. There were far fewer than he had expected when he looked over it all. He guessed it _was_ a busy city, so the amount of spots with little to no presence was reduced to less than a handful.

Two of the points were just that. Absolutely vacant. Nothing in them, no movement, and no signs of life. The third however, had a man walking out of a building. As Archer pressed his senses against that man, he could indeed feel nothing coming from him. It was almost as if the man didn't really exist. Archer began to wonder if he was just seeing things, but quickly brushed the thought aside. The man was real, and he had the biggest chance of being Assassin out of anyone he had seen.

A ruby formed next to Archer's head and condensed itself into an almost needle-like form. As the gem finished molding, it shot off like a bullet from a gun and crackled through the night sky with red fury. The man suddenly bent forward as the ruby projectile wizzed over his head and exploded into the ground. The man turned and smiled as he melted into the shadows.

Archer's eyes widened as he quickly broke an emerald to make a shield form. As he turned to move vantage points, the man Archer had fired at formed from the shadows behind him. Slowly, the man's skin melted away to reveal a woman with dark, cold, eyes.

"Silly Archer." Assassin sneered. "This knife can pierce any armor. No matter the nature. That shield of yours is pointless." Assassin dove at the gem shield but instantly regretted her decision.

Archer gave a smile as Assassin dove. "Luckily for me, it isn't just a shield." Archer snarked.

Assassin's knife sank into what she believed to be a shield, but the contact felt odd. It felt as if the knife had met no resistance. Her hand sunk through the barrier as if it wasn't there, but nothing passed through on the other side. Assassin's concern grew by the millisecond. She had made a grave miscalculation in her strike.

Suddenly, her knife and hand came back at her from another point in the shield and stabbed her in her shoulder. She looked at the betraying knife in shock and jumped back. Her hand and knife went back into the shield and came back attached to her wrist, like normal. What had just happened? It was as if Archer had bent space when she had attacked.

"It's called dimensional refraction.' Archer revealed. "When something enters a space I choose, I can force it to exit at another point in space. You weren't wrong to assume that I put up a shield, but you were wrong to assume that that was all I put up. Your knife may make simple shields pointless, but not this technique."

Assassin looked at him in utter rage and disbelief. "How did you know the secondary ability to my knife?!"

Archer shrugged. "I didn't. I just do this as a safety precaution to be completely honest with you." Then Archer's face turned serious. "You're the one who was so willing to give up that information."

"So what?!" Assassin raged. "You gave up information on your technique as well!"

Archer chuckled at his fellow servant's naivety. "That's because there's one vital difference between the two of us. You won't be alive long enough to tell anyone."

"Why you-" Assassin began as she moved to run at him.

The female servant was cut off as a sharp diamond projectile penetrated her foot.

"I think it's time you exited this war with the Archer stamp of "You didn't achieve a damn thing"." Archer sighed.

Many different kinds of gems began to form around Assassin. Rubies, sapphires, diamonds, emeralds, and amethysts trapped Assassin in a sphere of deadly projectiles. The gems all formed into needles and aimed at her from every angle. Archer raised his hand, and then pointed it forward. Thousands of gem projectiles impaled Assassin's body until there was nothing left but a thin stream of mana dissipating into the air.

"That was uneventful." Archer mumbled to himself.

Like he figured, once Assassin was dealt with, her master blared up on his radar like a glowing beacon.

"Time to deal with that now."

Archer traced the energy signature of Assassin's master to a warehouse at the edge of the city. All of the street lights around were busted and the roads were in shambles. Weeds protruded from every crack and crevice in as the servant approached. The warehouse itself looked like it was about to crumble to the ground from structural instability.

"Creepy place, for a crazy girl, I guess." Archer mumbled to himself.

As he entered, at least three rats scurried across the floor. Rubble was everywhere, and the place was absolutely filthy. The only light in the entire place came from a back room. The rest of the building was lit only by the moonlight shining through cracks in the ceiling.

"So you're the one who defeated my sweet, beautiful, Assassin." A high pitched voice rang out.

Archer snorted. ""Defeated" implies that she stood a chance. "Slaughtered" is a more appropriate term. She was pathetically outmatched by me and my master."

Archer watched as a brown haired girl walked into the doorway between the light and him. Her shadow cast over him, but he knew this was the end for her. Gems began to surround his head.

The girl began to laugh hysterically. "You think you intimidate me?!" She shrilled. "Oh sweet sweet Archer, you don't deserve to kill me. Don't worry. I surely am to die tonight..." she paused a moment, and then resumed her laughter. "But guess what, you pathetic little knight? So are you!"

Archer sighed in irritation. The girl was clearly delusional. He raised his hand to fire his projectiles, but before he could send them the girl's way, a clawed hand, coated in red flame, exploded through the girl's chest. She continued to laugh hysterically to her last breath.

A second hand joined the first and the girl's body was ripped in half. What emerged from behind the split corpse was truly terrifying. A burning red demon with sharp horns and a coat of blood-red flames stepped forward and screamed the most unsettling roar Archer had ever heard. Flaming red wings waved behind the demon's body and black eyes burned with anger and hate. Archer could distinguish some feminine features from the thing, but the deadly intent flowing from this creature almost forced him to back away in fear.

A feminine giggle rang out and a girl with white hair and red eyes walked through the same doorway that the demon had. The young woman had amusement written plainly all over her face.

"Leave it to a Tohsaka to send her servant off to die alone." the girl taunted. "I'll say, she sure has some lousy imagination if you're all she could summon."

"You're just jealous of my good looks." Archer deflected. He had to find a way to get out of there. He couldn't take this servant on. Especially if she was the one his master had been talking about. The sheer power that exuded from the creature was enough to make some of the noblest of creatures falter.

Archer attempted to jump backwards to gain some distance and fired off the gems he had had ready. The gems simply melted from the flames surrounding the demon and the girl behind it laughed again in amusement.

Without warning, the demon flashed behind Archer with a burst of speed he hadn't anticipated He had really been banking on being able to outrun her. "Damn it. She's fast." Archer cursed.

Archer quickly threw up his emerald shield and dimensional refraction as the demon slammed a fist through it; making it instantly get punched by its own blow. But something odd happened. The demon's flames intensified to an almost unbearable degree and Archer's dimensional refraction began to dissipate.

The demon pulled her hand out of the dimensional hole and amplified her heat even more. Archer's double-fold shield evaporated and melted; leaving him vulnerable to any attack the thing could think of. The demon then slammed a flaming fist into Archer's face; scorching his skin and send him flying.

The demon stopped her pursuit.

"Where is little Ms. Tohsaka anyways?" The white haired woman laughed.

"I'll tell you where she isn't." Archer groaned as he struggled to his feet. "And that would be where my foot is about to be in about five seconds."

The demon kicked Archer and pain shot through his body.

"Wrong answer Archer." the girl rolled her eyes. "Try again."

"Who...are...you..." Archer groaned in pain.

"I guess telling you wouldn't hurt." The woman responded. "Besides. I want that Tohsaka bitch to know who murdered her servant."

"_That's right, you idiot. Keep talking._" Archer thought in his head. He had to stall. He had to think.

"My name is Ireana Von Einsbern." The girl gloated. "And this is my lovely, little, corrupted, servant of joy, Berserker."

"_Just a bit longer._" his plan had reached him. Now he just had to prepare and execute i-

The girl sighed. "Are you going to do what you've been planning, or are you going to keep me waiting?"

Archer went pale. This was the only play he had left. He let out a sigh and hung his head. He had to go through with it if he wanted a chance of getting out of this alive.

"Noble Phantasm:Chair of Observance." Archer called out.

Pitch black darkness enveloped the warehouse and Archer sat down in an almost throne-like seat that had appeared behind him. He had to determine how to defeat Berserker.

Berserker shrieked and tore around in the darkness trying to find him. Yet, he stayed calm. He had to think. Knowledge about Berserker began to flow into Archer's head.

The servant's name was Luna. This form was one that she hated to take the most, and this class was the class that brought her the most pain out of all of the classes. There was someone Luna wished to see again. That was all Archer could get from the emotional side of her. As for physical, only "absolute zero" or death itself could defeat her. Her flames burned too hot. Archer had no such things at his disposal. His hopes sank. He would not be getting out of here alive.

"_Rin._" Archer transmitted out to his master.

"_What is it, Archer?_" She transferred back. "_Were you able to terminate Assassin and their master?_"

"_Yes," _He responded, "_Assassin and her master have met their end, but I find myself in a bit of a predicament. Berserker and Einsbern have showed up. I deployed "Chair of Observance" But I don't have long before they find me._"

"_Einsbern?!_" Rin exclaimed. "_Why didn't you run?! You have to get out of there!_"

Archer ignored her statement. He was running out of time. "_Berserker is coated in hellfire and can be only be frozen by "absolute zero"._"

"_Archer-!_" Rin was shouting now, but he continued.

"_Rider's Noble Phantasm should also be able to take her down, but I think absolute zero is our best and most available option._" he conveyed.

"_Archer!_" Rin shouted. "_Get out of there! Just come back!_"

"_I'm afraid I can't, Rin._" Archer sighed. "_Berserker is too fast and her abilities completely canceled mine out._"

"_Archer, please!_" Rin pleaded.

"_I know you all will find a way to defeat them._" Archer whispered.

"_Archer!_"

"_Beware...age..._" a different voice said in the servant's head.

Beware age? What the hell did that mean? Whose voice was that?

"_Bew...of...sage..._" it said again.

What?

Archer transmitted the mysterious message to Rin. As he finished, flaming chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around him. The metal bonds crumbled Archer's chair, and bound him to the ground. Red flames tore through the darkness and enveloped Archer's Noble Phantasm entirely.

"I guess this is where my journey comes to an end." Archer sighed in acceptance. "Good luck, Rin."

Berserker jumped through the air and slammed down onto Archer. The last thing he saw before the tormented servant drove her hand through his chest was the utter anguish and confusion in the poor thing's eyes. He pitied her. She probably didn't want any of this.

Archer closed his eyes as his body burned to nothing.

**A/N: Another one down. I know I said in the next couple of days, but I was feeling motivated today. So here's another chapter for you. I hope you enjoyed it. If you are enjoying the story so far, please give a review and tell me what your favorite part is. If you aren't then also leave a review and tell me what I could do better. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks for stopping by!**

**-B **


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other elated properties. This story is for entertainment only. Please Enjoy! **

**Chapter 10 - RIN**

Rin fired a gandr shot at Blake's face and the diviner activated his pentacle shield. The shot slammed into the shield; shattering it and sending the man behind it flying backwards. Blake had gotten much better at using the shield and much more efficient, but sometimes he got the amount of mana wrong, which resulted in his current situation.

Blake stood up and dusted himself off; grinning like a mad man.

"Again." He said with his wide grin still intact.

Rin man had become a training nut. The second he got a grasp on his ability, he wanted to improve it with every spare moment. Rin even found him meditating with his deck on occasion.

The war had been oddly quiet. Her familiars had informed her that all the masters were in the city, but no one seemed to want to make the first move.

Rin was about to shoot another gandr shot at Blake when she heard Archer in her head.

"_Rin_."

The mage stopped her instruction and turned away from Blake.

"Take five." She instructed over her shoulder.

The man gave a frown but decided to sit down and meditate with his deck while he waited.

Rin placed her finger to her ear even though there was no physical earpiece.

"_What is it, Archer_?" She transferred back. "_Were you able to terminate Assassin and their master_?"

"_Yes, Assassin and her master have met their end, but I find myself in a bit of a predicament. _He returned. "_Berserker and Einsbern showed up. I deployed "Chair of Observance" But I don't have long before they find me._"

"_Einsbern_?!" Rin exclaimed in her message. "_Why didn't you run?! You have to get out of there!_"

Archer ignored her statement. He was running out of time. "Berserker is coated in hellfire and can be only be frozen by absolute zero."

"Archer-!" Rin was shouting out loud now, but he continued.

"_Rider's Noble Phantasm should also be able to take her down, but I think absolute zero is our best and most available option._"

"Archer!" Rin shouted. "Get out of there! Just come back!"

Blake's eyes had opened and he was now getting up to see what the shouting was about.

"_I'm afraid I can't, Rin._" Archer sighed. "_Berserker is too fast and her abilities completely canceled mine out._"

"Archer, please!" Rin pleaded. "I'll use a command spell to bring you here! Just hold on!"

"_I know you all will find a way to defeat them._" Archer chuckled.

"Archer!" Rin let out a frustrated growl and heald up her hand. Her command seals began to light up.

"_I guess this is where my journey comes to an end. Good luck, Rin._"

With that, Rin's command seals faded from her hand. It was proof that her servant was dead, but she refused to believe it.

"Archer? Archer come in! Archer?! ARCHER!"

Archer didn't respond. Then there was pain. Burning, searing pain. It seemed to consume her and burn away everything she was; as if she had been thrown into Hell itself. Darkness encroach on her vision.

Rin fell to ground, or at least she thought she did. There was nothing but the burning pain. It was as if she was burning alive. She screamed. That was all she could do. The pain overtook her. It robbed her of all reason. She could vaguely make out Blake running towards her, but he seemed to be running in slow motion. Finally, everything went black.

"Oh poor, sweet, weak, little Tohsaka." a sickly sweet female voice echoed. "Knocked from the board so early on in the game. Always the secondary character. So weak. So utterly pathetic. I guess the Tohsaka line wasn't everything it was cracked up to be. You bring shame to the remaining two great families of the grail. Your father would be so disappointed in what an utter failure his daughter turned out to be."

Rin felt herself sinking into a dark pit. "I'll show you some mercy though." A knife appeared next to Rin. "Take your own life before it is consumed by Hell itself. If you don't your soul will be torchered forever."

Rin felt it. There was no hope. Only darkness and burning nothingness awaited her. There was no way back. She wouldn't see her sister again. She had failed at destroying the grail. She wouldn't be able to help Blake realize his full potential. Everything she had done was pointless. Her life was pointless. She had failed everyone. She had failed at everything.

Rin reached out for the knife. She had failed. She might as well end the miserable failure she called her life. She had failed. She grabbed the knife and place it over her chest. She had failed. Maybe she'd see her parents again when it all ended. Probably not. She had failed.

Tears fell down her face. Einsbern won.

**BLAKE**

Blake rushed down the stairs from the roof with Rin in his arms. The woman was burning up as she attempted to toss and turn. It was as if someone had set her insides on fire. It was almost painful to hold her, but one look at the obvious pain on her face made him ignore his own pain. He had to do something. Maybe Ben would know what to do.

The man kicked open the door to the apartment and ran in. Ben, who had been sitting down, in the middle of a magic circle, on the ground, bolted up as he saw Blake run in with an incapacitated Rin.

"What happened?!" Ben asked. "Did you do this?"

"No." Blake responded as he set Rin down on the couch. "I think Archer has been defeated. Rin's command seals disappeared and then she started screaming. She seems like she's in a lot of pain."

Blake was panicking. His female companion was writhing in pain and he had no clue as to what he should do.

"Is there anything you can think of that could help her?!" Blake asked. "We need to help her!"

"You said she lost Archer, yeah?" Ben asked. There was a certain detachment in his voice that gave Blake pause.

"Yeah, why?" Blake asked cautiously.

"Then we don't need her anymore." Ben said with an air of coldness. "A servantless master is just a hinderance."

"Are you fucking with me right now?!" Blake yelled. "She needs our help! Are you going to just abandon her?"

"No," Ben said. "But I am going to leave her life in your hands. Whatever servant that defeated Archer may know where we are now, so I'm going to fortify our defenses."

The occultist began to make cuts on himself and started drawing warding symbols around the apartment.

Blake cursed. He had no idea how he could save Rin. Her breathing was getting more ragged by the second. Pentacles couldn't save her, but maybe something else in his deck could. Maybe _they_ could.

An idea began to form in Blake's head. The man picked up Rin and placed her on the ground. He then pulled out his deck and placed twenty-one cards around her in a circle. He then held his hand over the woman and began to chant.

"Oh Higher Arcana, I praise you for you are the balancers of fate and destiny. Please heed my call and act through my will. Reveal to me the ailment of her soul."

A card to the woman's right began to glow and shot into the diviner's hand. He looked at it and his heart dropped. It was "the tower" card.

He then set the card on top of her and spoke again.

"Please oh Higher Arcana, heed my will. Reveal to me the way to save her."

This time, a card to the woman's left began to glow and shot into his hand. He looked at the card and nodded.

Blake held the new card in his hand and called out, "Higher Arcana: Temperance!" And placed the card on top of "the tower".

The two cards began to glow with brilliant white light, all nineteen of the other cards began to glow along with them. Blake then placed all of the mana he had into the act he was performing and finally, all of the cards flew back into his deck.

Blake fell forward; bracing himself with his hands. That spell had taken everything out of him. If it hadn't worked. Rin was doomed.

The man looked up at the still unconscious girl and sighed in relief. Her breathing had evened out and she was no longer grimacing in pain. It had worked. The card had worked. He had saved her.

"So you did it." Ben observed. "Good going. How did you know how to-"

Ben passed out from blood loss. He had used a lot of his blood in his attempts to ward the apartment.

Blake sighed, picked Rin up, and placed her back on the couch. A peaceful smile was placed beautifully on her face. She was safe now. He had succeeded and now he wondered what else he could do with the tarot and Higher Arcana.

**RIN**

Rin was about to plunge the knife down into her chest when a bright white light began to shine above her. It wasn't burning, like fire, but warm and calling. It illuminated the darkness around her and dissipated the knife. It was the most comforting light she had ever felt. It called to her. It told her that she hadn't failed and that she still had more to give.

Rin's eyes widened as she realized what she was about to do. How could she of thrown everything away so easily. How could she turn her back on her duty as a mage. The light told her it was alright. It told her that darkness can cloud the brightest minds. She cast her eyes upward and began to rise once again.

Rin's eyes shot open. She was back in the apartment on the couch. She looked around in panic, but relaxed when she noticed that two other friendly presences were in the room. Ben was sprawled on the ground snoring loudly. His arm was bandaged but a bit of red had soaked through.

She heard a sigh of relief from behind her and she twisted to see a smiling Blake standing from the chair next to the couch.

"How are you feeling? Are you ok? You scared the crap out of me! What happened?" Sentence after sentence spilled from the diviner mage like a dam being broken.

She couldn't help but laugh at the complete worry he was expressing. It didn't seem to belong on his face. "Why do you seem more panicked than me? She giggled. "I'm the one who passed out."

Blake's face turned red, and he quickly turned away. "Whatever, it just would have sucked to lose an ally." The man sighed then looked back to her with a newly mastered face. "But really. What happened? You were yelling for Archer, and then you started screaming."

"Archer was defeated and I think Einsbern tried to exploit my connection to him in an attempt to kill me as well." Rin explained. "It felt like she briefly connected his and my pain receptors. This forced me into my sub-conscience and allowed her to utilize her negative energy to try and get me to take my own life."

"She can do that?" Blake asked in shock. "I thought Einsberns normally specialized in familiar magic."

"That's what I thought too, but this Einsbern seems different." Rin said as she began to think. "I've never heard of the Einsberns possessing the kind of magic she used tonight, period."

"Could it be someone posing as an Einsbern?" Bailey asked.

"It's not likely, but I wouldn't say it's impossible." Rin replied. "Maybe the Einsberns got ahold of new magic or maybe even a new mage. But Archer said she looked like an Einsbern homunculi. This is strange..." she muttered as she looked down.

It was at that moment that Rin caught sight of her blank hand, and everything that happened finally it hit her. Archer was actually dead. She was now a servantless master in the war. Rin cast her eyes down. The two men would probably just view her as a burden now. So much for her plans to destroy the grail.

Blake took in her sullen face and sighed. He hadn't had to deal with the emotional needs of others for nearly a year, but this girl seemed like she needed a friend.

The man knelt down beside the mage and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, everything is going to be alright," He smiled. "The three of us will figure out how to take down Einsbern and Berserker. Any play you got, we'll back. I just ask that you do the same in return, okay?"

Though Ben hadn't done anything to save her, the man had helped in his own way. If Ben hadn't really cared about Rin's fate, he would have just told Blake that they needed to move positions, instead of sacrificing a nauseating amount of blood to fortify their position. Ben wasn't a monster. He just wasn't equipped to help Rin.

Rin looked at his face and saw nothing but sincerity there. Instantly her doubts began to fade. No, they would destroy the grail and protect humanity. She could see it now. In the week she had been training him, he had grown exponentially more capable in his craft. Him and Ben would be valuable allies in the battles to come.

The magus smiled and nodded.

Satisfied that she was in a better headspace, Blake rose to his feet with his hand still in her shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of Assassin, by the way. Now Lancer can move around freely. We owe you big time."

Rin smiled up at him. "No problem, just don't get your servant cursed again, you idiot." There was no malice in her scolding, but he couldn't help feel guilty about what had happened to Archer.

Blake took his hand off her shoulder and moved to sit back in the chair. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes looked heavy.

"_He looks dead on his feet,_" Rin briefly thought to herself. "_He must have been keeping watch over Ben and me_."

The mage reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Hey, why don't you get some sleep. I'll take over watch for the night."

"You still need to recover." Blake protested.

Rin rolled her eyes in the widest circle she could muster and sighed. "I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to. I have a lot of things to think over anyways. Please, just rest. I'll be fine."

Blake opened his mouth to protest more, but quickly thought better of it. "Fine..." he grumbled.

Rin got off of the couch and moved to the chair and Blake moved to the couch. The mage looked at the man in surprise.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you go to the bed?" She asked.

"Nah, I'll just keep you company until I drift off." He responded.

Rin decided not to argue with him and let him do as he pleased. There was really no point.

After that, the two chatted idly until the diviner drifted off to his well deserved sleep.

**A/N: Man that was a close one. Blake discovers a new capability, but at what cost? Who really is Einsbern? Is she actually an Einsbern? What secrets lie behind Berserker? I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. If you are enjoying the story so far, please leave a review and tell me what your favorite part has been. If you haven't, then also write a review and tell me what I can do better. That's all for now. Thank you for stopping by!**

**-B**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Chapter 11 - RIN**

Rin watched the diviner as he snored softly on the couch. She owed the man a great deal. He may not of said it, but he saved her life. She could recognize his magic anywhere. The nature of it was warm and bright, just like the l ight that had saved her from Einsbern's curse.

The woman realized she had been staring too long and decided to turn her gaze out the window. It was approaching noon and the was casting rays of light through the window. Both Blake and Ben were still out cold. It seemed they had used a great amount of energy at her expense the night before. This particular fact made her feel a bit guilty, so she let them snore away. Besides, nothing happened during the day, anyways.

"Well, It seems like you're doing alright now." A voice said from across the room.

Rin turned to see Ben sitting up from his previously sprawled out position. He looked like hell. His skin looked more pale than usual and there were bags under his eyes. Yet, slight concern was plaguing his face.

"I heard we lost Archer." The man sighed as he ran his fingers through his disheveled hair.

Rin's face fell. "Yes," she whispered. "Einsbern and Berserker killed him and Assassin's master."

"So it was Berserker." Ben looked up in thought. "And this was the same Einsbern that supposedly stole an idea from us, right?"

An image of a white-haired girl and a flaming she-demon flashed into Rin's mind; courtesy of Archer final actions. Maybe Ben could decern Berserker's identity.

"Yes," Rin replied. "The girl definitely looked like an Einsbern homunculus. Berserker was a flaming red, female demon, with wings, and black eyes. Ring any bells?"

"Not off the top of my head." Ben said as he rubbed his temples. "None that would make sense. I don't think Blake ever made something of that description either."

"It sounds like Luna." Lancer's voice echoed as he materialized.

Ben shook his head. "That shouldn't be possible." He said back to the servant. "The Grail shouldn't be able to summon a servant of that magnitude. The most it should be able to summon is a demidemon or a demigod. And that's the very most. A full blown demoness should be out of the question."

"Wait," Rin cut in; feeling confused. "Who's Luna?" The two men seemed like they were very aware of who this Luna was, but Rin had no clue.

"My wife." Lancer said plainly; disregarding the confusion on Rin's face at that moment. The servant then turned his attention back to the occultist. "I've heard you magi say many times that this grail war is different than the typical run-of-the-mill Holy Grail War. Maybe with the change in nature that came with this grail, a change in limitations also occurred."

Rin nodded. Lancer's logic made sense. But, the casual way he had thrown the info he had at her, bugged her.

"What do you make of this, Be-" Rin began, but then stopped as she took in the look on Ben's face. He had gone paler and his eyes were wide with fear.

"This is bad," He shook. "If it's really Luna, then we're all in danger."

"You're right, Ben." Lancer nodded solemnly. "My wife in the Berserker class is definitely something to be feared."

Rin found herself confused again. "Weren't we already in danger from Berserker?" Rin asked the two. "She wiped out my Archer even after he used his Noble Phantasm."

"That's not all." Ben trailed. The man looked like he had seen a ghost. "She's even more dangerous than either of you could know."

Lancer gave Ben a sideways look. "She's my wife." The Servant said. "I'm pretty sure I know the danger she could pose."

"You wouldn't," Ben stared off. "You're Blake's creation, so your knowledge is only limited to what Blake himself knows. Luna, however, is a creation of mine." The man took in a deep breath and attempted to master himself. "I guess now is as good of a time as any to reveal what she is."

"She's a demon," Lancer laughed with uncertainty. "That's all there was, wasn't there?"

"Not just any demon." Ben corrected. "The daughter of two demon lords. Her father is Ferule, lord of madness, and her mother is the queen of all succubi."

Lancer's eyes widened at the revelation, but the servant soon mastered his face, and returned to his previous cool demeanor.

"We still don't know how the idea for Luna was leaked to Einsbern yet." The Servant pointed out. "The only way that Luna could have been summoned at full power would be if you were the one who leaked the information. I don't know how many people you went spouting off to, about her, but I get the feeling that the answer would be no one."

Ben nodded, verifying what Lancer had just said.

"Therefore, my master is the source of the leak, meaning that Luna doesn't have access to her full potential." Lancer continued. "This will be to our advantage."

Rin admired Lancer's logical way of thinking. It was a stark contrast to his master's "loose cannon" attitude. She wondered what the servant had gone through to be able to perceive a personal matter, such as this, with a clear mind.

"Let's hope that's the case." Ben responded to the servant. "Even all the masters and servants combined might not be enough to bring her down in her demon lord state."

"It may not have to come to that," Lancer countered. "If we can find a way to immobilize her, I might be able to get through to her."

Ben shook his head. "That's a huge risk, Suingi." The occultist argued. "She may be your wife, but we weren't the ones who summoned her. We have no idea if that thing completely is Luna. Einsbern could have changed any number of things about her, before summoning her."

A kind of stubbornness crossed Lancer's face. Rin recognized that look. She had seen it on Blake's face many times while they trained.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." The Servant said. "Luna is Luna. No matter what form she takes, she is the woman I love. My wish in this war was to be reunited with her. Now I have a chance. I'll get through to her…whatever it takes."

Ben muttered something under his breath and then looked back to Lancer. "Fine." He grumbled. "It's not like I'm the one who can stop you anyways. Just know that I don't have anything at my disposal to restrain her."

Lancer sighed, "I figured as much." The Servant tapped his foot in thought. "The other masters and servants might. We should try and recruit their help. I don't think anyone could deny that Berserker is the biggest threat. If we presented a plan to knock her from the board, they would probably jump at it."

"The problem is, we don't know who the other masters are." Ben pointed out.

"Yes we do," Rin jumped she saw the confusion on the faces of the other two, she rephrased. "Or at least I do."

"Ok, but how…" Ben trailed as realization hit him. "Oh yeah. You were playing spy for the Association. Well, who are they then."

"Well the Rider Servant has displayed powers similar to the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse, and the Caster Servant seems to be able to manipulate time." Rin explained. "As for their masters, Sarah Schwab and Lucien Benoit respectively, they are both magi from European countries and have grudges against both the Tohsakas and the Einsberns."

"Lucky for us, Blake and I aren't from those families," Ben reminded her. "So maybe if him and I do the talking, we could get them to form a temporary alliance. Besides, and no offense intended by this, Einsbern is a bigger threat than you right now."

"You expect Blake to convince highly skilled magi to join us?" Rin laughed. "Knowing him, he'd probably botch the conversation completely."

"He's more reliable than you think." Ben sighed. "He's actually quite good at winning people over. He may seem like an idiot at times, but there's something in him that you don't see in many people these days. He pushes himself to his very limit when he wants something and he's only an idiot in form. He's actually quite smart. But I'm sure you've noticed this much about him already. At least on some level, that is."

Rin nodded. She had noticed it. In their training, Blake was adapting to his powers at an extremely high rate. He knew he didn't have much in terms of raw magic power, at least not yet, and utilized other methods to conserve his mana. It was most admirable.

Finally, the magus sighed. "I guess I'll leave negotiations up to the two of you then."

Ben nodded and then turned to Lancer. "Would you mind leaving the room for a bit?" He asked the servant. "There's something I want to discuss with Rin, privately."

The servant sighed. "Discuss away." He said as he dematerialized.

Ben waited a moment after the spirit had disappeared before talking. Rin had to admit that she was curious about what the occultist needed to talk about.

"This isn't looking good for us." He finally said.

"What?" That hadn't been what she had been expecting. "What do you mean?"

"The way things are going, I may be the only one of us left with a servant." Ben explained further. "I'm not going to take away from what Fuddle can accomplish, but I don't think he could take on both Caster and Rider after Luna is dealt with. Not on his own, that is."

"Why would he be on his own?" Rin asked. "Wouldn't we still have Lancer? At that point, it would be two on two."

"I don't know if Suingi can bring himself to kill Luna." Ben said with worry on his face. "You heard him right? He said he'd do whatever it takes to bring her around. Now I don't know about you, but I recognize the kind of face he was making. It was the face of someone who is willing to put their life down for something. I don't like this."

"It's quite the predicament." Rin said more to herself than to Ben. The girl then snapped her fingers as a memory came to her. "I may have a solution, though. One that doesn't involve recruiting the other masters."

"And what would that be?" Ben asked curiously.

"Before he di…" Rin paused briefly; mid-sentence. She didn't want to say what she had been about to say, so she rephrased. "Before he was _defeated_, Archer let me in on some of Berserker's weaknesses."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Ben asked.

"I haven't exactly had the chance to." Rin huffed. "As soon as he told me, I got hit with Einsbern's curse."

"Oh," Ben mumbled. "Right."

Rin cleared her throat. "As I was saying, Archer let me in on Berserker's weaknesses. There aren't many, but she does have them. The most viable option, without getting other masters involved, is the use of "absolute zero". If I can infuse a gem correctly, all we would have to do is throw the gem at Berserker. If it doesn't defeat her, it could immobilize her long enough for Lancer to get through to her. This would allow us the wiggle room we need, to take out at least one master and servant before going to battle with Einsbern and Berserker."

Ben nodded; his face showing that he was deep in thought. He looked back to Rin. "That sounds like a good plan in theory, but this is assuming we actually defeat Berserker. If we fight a servant before Berserker, Fuddle and Lancer might be too weakened to win, and we would all die."

"If I can complete the "absolute zero" gem, we shouldn't even have to fight Berserker." Rin countered.

"That's a fair point." Ben acknowledged. "But that's also making the assumption that you can even create an "absolute zero" gem."

Rin glared at the occultist. "Are you doubting me, Conners?" She asked with indignation. The girl turned away with a 'huff'."I'll make you rue those words."

Ben held up his hands in surrender. "Fine, but which servant would we attempt to take down before Berserker?"

"Caster."

The two magi spun around to see Blake getting up from the couch.

Rin's eyes widened. He looked terrible. His eyes looked dull and he seemed even paler than Ben. The man stumbled over to them.

"Are you alright, man?" Ben asked "You don't look so good."

"I'll be fine." The diviner waved off. "I think my little spell last night drained me more than I was expecting."

"You should get some more rest." Rin said. He looked like he was about to fall over. There were dark bags under his eyes and his usual straight posture was slumped forward. He should have recovered his strength by now.

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to." He chuckled weakly. "Too much planning going on for me to be able to sleep."

Ben looked at his friend curiously. "Why did you say we should go after Caster?"

"I overheard Rin say that Caster uses time magic." Blake explained. "Lancer is immune to time magic. So you two and Saber could take on her master while Lancer and I take on Caster."

Rin gave the man a look of disbelief. "You are in no condition to fight." She scolded. "I understand why Lancer has to fight Caster, but you don't have any business being in that fight. You'll just get in Lancer's way."

The diviner's eyes went wide. The sharpness of her words seemed to hit Blake right in his pride. The man hung his head. "I know." He whispered.

"Good." Rin nodded. "Now that that's set-"

Blake was shaking. "I know I'll just get in his way." He said louder in frustration. Rin and Ben looked at him; taken aback by this sudden display of emotion. The diviner's eyes came up to meet theirs. They weren't dull anymore. There was a fire in them that seemed to draw the other two into what he was saying. "But I can't just do nothing!" His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I can't just sit on the sidelines while everyone else takes care of things. I'll never be able to create the world I want, if I just let others do all the work."

"But you physically don't look well enough to handle a fight." Rin protested. "Whatever you did last night, overdrained your mana. If you try and use any more, you could die. Do you not get that?"

Blake looked to Ben for help, but the occultist shook his head. "I think you should listen to her, bro. You look like you'd keel over if you even tried to activate your magic circuits."

"We need you to sit this one out." Rin said gently. Then she smiled at him. "I can't have my student dying on me, now can I?"

Blake's shoulders dropped in defeat and he shuffled over to the apartment door.

"Where are you going?" Rin asked.

"I need some air." Blake said as he looked at Rin with empty eyes. "I'm suffocating in here, right now."

His words cut like a knife. He had said it in a way that made Rin feel like she was the one suffocating him.

Rin felt guilt rench at her heart, but before she could say anything, the man had already went out the door. The magus moved to go after him, but a hand went to her shoulder and stopped her.

"Let him go." Ben said. Rin looked up at the blonde man and saw that there was guilt on his face as well. "He'll cool off. He just needs time to think things over."

The woman nodded. "I guess I should get things in order for tonight, then…"

**BLAKE**

Blake trudged along the streets of the German city with lifeless eyes. His insides hurt. He knew he shouldn't have said what he had said to Rin, but he just felt so useless. He knew that they were just afraid for him, and he had acted like an immature child who was angry because mom and dad said no. God, he was such an idiot.

The look of hurt on Rin's face made his heart ache. She was the last person he'd ever want to hurt.

Blake sat down at a bench to take a break. He was too drained to go any further at that moment.

The man stretched out and sighed. He'd apologize. Yes. That's what he'd do. Just balls to the walls apologize. That's all he could think to do. But what would he? Sorry for being a dick? The man let out another sigh.

A bell rung and Blake looked up to see a vendor pushing a cart full of flowers and bouquets. Maybe he should get Rin some flowers. Women loved flowers right? Nothing said 'I'm sorry' like a bouquet of flowers.

Blake sprang up with new energy and purpose and went up to the vendor. He was about to buy a bouquet of roses but then stopped. Would Rin take that as him making a move on her? Was he trying to make a move on her? Maybe flowers weren't a good idea. Shit. He was already there, though. He couldn't just walk away now.

Blake finally decided on some sunflowers and waved awkwardly at the vendor as they pushed their cart down the street. He didn't quite think what he had gotten matched Rin's style, but he had panicked and bought the first thing that stuck out to him.

The man sighed and turned around to go back to the apartment. As he did so, a light 'thud' sounded out as he bumped into someone about a head shorter than him.

"Sorry!" He said as he looked down to see who he had wronged. His eyes widened.

"Are those for me?" They asked as they pointed at the sunflowers. "It sweet that you still remember that they're my favorite."

Blake's wide eyes took in the sight of woman with dirty-blonde hair and innocent green eyes. She was the second most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, and he knew her. In fact, they had dated.

The flowers fell from Blake's hands.

"Sage?!"

**A/N: A mysterious woman from Blake's past appears. Why is she here? What does she want. The trio prepares for their fight with Caster. Will they succeed? Find out next time on Fate/ ReWorld.**

**A/N II: As always, if you enjoyed the chapter, leave a review and let me know what your favorite part was. If you hated it, also leave a review and tell me what I could do better. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Other than that, thank you for reading and the next chapter will be up shortly.**

**-B**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Chapter 11 - RIN**

Rin watched the diviner as he snored softly on the couch. She owed the man a great deal. He may not of said it, but he saved her life. She could recognize his magic anywhere. The nature of it was warm and bright, just like the l ight that had saved her from Einsbern's curse.

The woman realized she had been staring too long and decided to turn her gaze out the window. It was approaching noon and the was casting rays of light through the window. Both Blake and Ben were still out cold. It seemed they had used a great amount of energy at her expense the night before. This particular fact made her feel a bit guilty, so she let them snore away. Besides, nothing happened during the day, anyways.

"Well, It seems like you're doing alright now." A voice said from across the room.

Rin turned to see Ben sitting up from his previously sprawled out position. He looked like hell. His skin looked more pale than usual and there were bags under his eyes. Yet, slight concern was plaguing his face.

"I heard we lost Archer." The man sighed as he ran his fingers through his disheveled hair.

Rin's face fell. "Yes," she whispered. "Einsbern and Berserker killed him and Assassin's master."

"So it was Berserker." Ben looked up in thought. "And this was the same Einsbern that supposedly stole an idea from us, right?"

An image of a white-haired girl and a flaming she-demon flashed into Rin's mind; courtesy of Archer final actions. Maybe Ben could decern Berserker's identity.

"Yes," Rin replied. "The girl definitely looked like an Einsbern homunculus. Berserker was a flaming red, female demon, with wings, and black eyes. Ring any bells?"

"Not off the top of my head." Ben said as he rubbed his temples. "None that would make sense. I don't think Blake ever made something of that description either."

"It sounds like Luna." Lancer's voice echoed as he materialized.

Ben shook his head. "That shouldn't be possible." He said back to the servant. "The Grail shouldn't be able to summon a servant of that magnitude. The most it should be able to summon is a demidemon or a demigod. And that's the very most. A full blown demoness should be out of the question."

"Wait," Rin cut in; feeling confused. "Who's Luna?" The two men seemed like they were very aware of who this Luna was, but Rin had no clue.

"My wife." Lancer said plainly; disregarding the confusion on Rin's face at that moment. The servant then turned his attention back to the occultist. "I've heard you magi say many times that this grail war is different than the typical run-of-the-mill Holy Grail War. Maybe with the change in nature that came with this grail, a change in limitations also occurred."

Rin nodded. Lancer's logic made sense. But, the casual way he had thrown the info he had at her, bugged her.

"What do you make of this, Be-" Rin began, but then stopped as she took in the look on Ben's face. He had gone paler and his eyes were wide with fear.

"This is bad," He shook. "If it's really Luna, then we're all in danger."

"You're right, Ben." Lancer nodded solemnly. "My wife in the Berserker class is definitely something to be feared."

Rin found herself confused again. "Weren't we already in danger from Berserker?" Rin asked the two. "She wiped out my Archer even after he used his Noble Phantasm."

"That's not all." Ben trailed. The man looked like he had seen a ghost. "She's even more dangerous than either of you could know."

Lancer gave Ben a sideways look. "She's my wife." The Servant said. "I'm pretty sure I know the danger she could pose."

"You wouldn't," Ben stared off. "You're Blake's creation, so your knowledge is only limited to what Blake himself knows. Luna, however, is a creation of mine." The man took in a deep breath and attempted to master himself. "I guess now is as good of a time as any to reveal what she is."

"She's a demon," Lancer laughed with uncertainty. "That's all there was, wasn't there?"

"Not just any demon." Ben corrected. "The daughter of two demon lords. Her father is Ferule, lord of madness, and her mother is the queen of all succubi."

Lancer's eyes widened at the revelation, but the servant soon mastered his face, and returned to his previous cool demeanor.

"We still don't know how the idea for Luna was leaked to Einsbern yet." The Servant pointed out. "The only way that Luna could have been summoned at full power would be if you were the one who leaked the information. I don't know how many people you went spouting off to, about her, but I get the feeling that the answer would be no one."

Ben nodded, verifying what Lancer had just said.

"Therefore, my master is the source of the leak, meaning that Luna doesn't have access to her full potential." Lancer continued. "This will be to our advantage."

Rin admired Lancer's logical way of thinking. It was a stark contrast to his master's "loose cannon" attitude. She wondered what the servant had gone through to be able to perceive a personal matter, such as this, with a clear mind.

"Let's hope that's the case." Ben responded to the servant. "Even all the masters and servants combined might not be enough to bring her down in her demon lord state."

"It may not have to come to that," Lancer countered. "If we can find a way to immobilize her, I might be able to get through to her."

Ben shook his head. "That's a huge risk, Suingi." The occultist argued. "She may be your wife, but we weren't the ones who summoned her. We have no idea if that thing completely is Luna. Einsbern could have changed any number of things about her, before summoning her."

A kind of stubbornness crossed Lancer's face. Rin recognized that look. She had seen it on Blake's face many times while they trained.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." The Servant said. "Luna is Luna. No matter what form she takes, she is the woman I love. My wish in this war was to be reunited with her. Now I have a chance. I'll get through to her…whatever it takes."

Ben muttered something under his breath and then looked back to Lancer. "Fine." He grumbled. "It's not like I'm the one who can stop you anyways. Just know that I don't have anything at my disposal to restrain her."

Lancer sighed, "I figured as much." The Servant tapped his foot in thought. "The other masters and servants might. We should try and recruit their help. I don't think anyone could deny that Berserker is the biggest threat. If we presented a plan to knock her from the board, they would probably jump at it."

"The problem is, we don't know who the other masters are." Ben pointed out.

"Yes we do," Rin jumped she saw the confusion on the faces of the other two, she rephrased. "Or at least I do."

"Ok, but how…" Ben trailed as realization hit him. "Oh yeah. You were playing spy for the Association. Well, who are they then."

"Well the Rider Servant has displayed powers similar to the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse, and the Caster Servant seems to be able to manipulate time." Rin explained. "As for their masters, Sarah Schwab and Lucien Benoit respectively, they are both magi from European countries and have grudges against both the Tohsakas and the Einsberns."

"Lucky for us, Blake and I aren't from those families," Ben reminded her. "So maybe if him and I do the talking, we could get them to form a temporary alliance. Besides, and no offense intended by this, Einsbern is a bigger threat than you right now."

"You expect Blake to convince highly skilled magi to join us?" Rin laughed. "Knowing him, he'd probably botch the conversation completely."

"He's more reliable than you think." Ben sighed. "He's actually quite good at winning people over. He may seem like an idiot at times, but there's something in him that you don't see in many people these days. He pushes himself to his very limit when he wants something and he's only an idiot in form. He's actually quite smart. But I'm sure you've noticed this much about him already. At least on some level, that is."

Rin nodded. She had noticed it. In their training, Blake was adapting to his powers at an extremely high rate. He knew he didn't have much in terms of raw magic power, at least not yet, and utilized other methods to conserve his mana. It was most admirable.

Finally, the magus sighed. "I guess I'll leave negotiations up to the two of you then."

Ben nodded and then turned to Lancer. "Would you mind leaving the room for a bit?" He asked the servant. "There's something I want to discuss with Rin, privately."

The servant sighed. "Discuss away." He said as he dematerialized.

Ben waited a moment after the spirit had disappeared before talking. Rin had to admit that she was curious about what the occultist needed to talk about.

"This isn't looking good for us." He finally said.

"What?" That hadn't been what she had been expecting. "What do you mean?"

"The way things are going, I may be the only one of us left with a servant." Ben explained further. "I'm not going to take away from what Fuddle can accomplish, but I don't think he could take on both Caster and Rider after Luna is dealt with. Not on his own, that is."

"Why would he be on his own?" Rin asked. "Wouldn't we still have Lancer? At that point, it would be two on two."

"I don't know if Suingi can bring himself to kill Luna." Ben said with worry on his face. "You heard him right? He said he'd do whatever it takes to bring her around. Now I don't know about you, but I recognize the kind of face he was making. It was the face of someone who is willing to put their life down for something. I don't like this."

"It's quite the predicament." Rin said more to herself than to Ben. The girl then snapped her fingers as a memory came to her. "I may have a solution, though. One that doesn't involve recruiting the other masters."

"And what would that be?" Ben asked curiously.

"Before he di…" Rin paused briefly; mid-sentence. She didn't want to say what she had been about to say, so she rephrased. "Before he was _defeated_, Archer let me in on some of Berserker's weaknesses."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Ben asked.

"I haven't exactly had the chance to." Rin huffed. "As soon as he told me, I got hit with Einsbern's curse."

"Oh," Ben mumbled. "Right."

Rin cleared her throat. "As I was saying, Archer let me in on Berserker's weaknesses. There aren't many, but she does have them. The most viable option, without getting other masters involved, is the use of "absolute zero". If I can infuse a gem correctly, all we would have to do is throw the gem at Berserker. If it doesn't defeat her, it could immobilize her long enough for Lancer to get through to her. This would allow us the wiggle room we need, to take out at least one master and servant before going to battle with Einsbern and Berserker."

Ben nodded; his face showing that he was deep in thought. He looked back to Rin. "That sounds like a good plan in theory, but this is assuming we actually defeat Berserker. If we fight a servant before Berserker, Fuddle and Lancer might be too weakened to win, and we would all die."

"If I can complete the "absolute zero" gem, we shouldn't even have to fight Berserker." Rin countered.

"That's a fair point." Ben acknowledged. "But that's also making the assumption that you can even create an "absolute zero" gem."

Rin glared at the occultist. "Are you doubting me, Conners?" She asked with indignation. The girl turned away with a 'huff'."I'll make you rue those words."

Ben held up his hands in surrender. "Fine, but which servant would we attempt to take down before Berserker?"

"Caster."

The two magi spun around to see Blake getting up from the couch.

Rin's eyes widened. He looked terrible. His eyes looked dull and he seemed even paler than Ben. The man stumbled over to them.

"Are you alright, man?" Ben asked "You don't look so good."

"I'll be fine." The diviner waved off. "I think my little spell last night drained me more than I was expecting."

"You should get some more rest." Rin said. He looked like he was about to fall over. There were dark bags under his eyes and his usual straight posture was slumped forward. He should have recovered his strength by now.

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to." He chuckled weakly. "Too much planning going on for me to be able to sleep."

Ben looked at his friend curiously. "Why did you say we should go after Caster?"

"I overheard Rin say that Caster uses time magic." Blake explained. "Lancer is immune to time magic. So you two and Saber could take on her master while Lancer and I take on Caster."

Rin gave the man a look of disbelief. "You are in no condition to fight." She scolded. "I understand why Lancer has to fight Caster, but you don't have any business being in that fight. You'll just get in Lancer's way."

The diviner's eyes went wide. The sharpness of her words seemed to hit Blake right in his pride. The man hung his head. "I know." He whispered.

"Good." Rin nodded. "Now that that's set-"

Blake was shaking. "I know I'll just get in his way." He said louder in frustration. Rin and Ben looked at him; taken aback by this sudden display of emotion. The diviner's eyes came up to meet theirs. They weren't dull anymore. There was a fire in them that seemed to draw the other two into what he was saying. "But I can't just do nothing!" His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I can't just sit on the sidelines while everyone else takes care of things. I'll never be able to create the world I want, if I just let others do all the work."

"But you physically don't look well enough to handle a fight." Rin protested. "Whatever you did last night, overdrained your mana. If you try and use any more, you could die. Do you not get that?"

Blake looked to Ben for help, but the occultist shook his head. "I think you should listen to her, bro. You look like you'd keel over if you even tried to activate your magic circuits."

"We need you to sit this one out." Rin said gently. Then she smiled at him. "I can't have my student dying on me, now can I?"

Blake's shoulders dropped in defeat and he shuffled over to the apartment door.

"Where are you going?" Rin asked.

"I need some air." Blake said as he looked at Rin with empty eyes. "I'm suffocating in here, right now."

His words cut like a knife. He had said it in a way that made Rin feel like she was the one suffocating him.

Rin felt guilt rench at her heart, but before she could say anything, the man had already went out the door. The magus moved to go after him, but a hand went to her shoulder and stopped her.

"Let him go." Ben said. Rin looked up at the blonde man and saw that there was guilt on his face as well. "He'll cool off. He just needs time to think things over."

The woman nodded. "I guess I should get things in order for tonight, then…"

**BLAKE**

Blake trudged along the streets of the German city with lifeless eyes. His insides hurt. He knew he shouldn't have said what he had said to Rin, but he just felt so useless. He knew that they were just afraid for him, and he had acted like an immature child who was angry because mom and dad said no. God, he was such an idiot.

The look of hurt on Rin's face made his heart ache. She was the last person he'd ever want to hurt.

Blake sat down at a bench to take a break. He was too drained to go any further at that moment.

The man stretched out and sighed. He'd apologize. Yes. That's what he'd do. Just balls to the walls apologize. That's all he could think to do. But what would he? Sorry for being a dick? The man let out another sigh.

A bell rung and Blake looked up to see a vendor pushing a cart full of flowers and bouquets. Maybe he should get Rin some flowers. Women loved flowers right? Nothing said 'I'm sorry' like a bouquet of flowers.

Blake sprang up with new energy and purpose and went up to the vendor. He was about to buy a bouquet of roses but then stopped. Would Rin take that as him making a move on her? Was he trying to make a move on her? Maybe flowers weren't a good idea. Shit. He was already there, though. He couldn't just walk away now.

Blake finally decided on some sunflowers and waved awkwardly at the vendor as they pushed their cart down the street. He didn't quite think what he had gotten matched Rin's style, but he had panicked and bought the first thing that stuck out to him.

The man sighed and turned around to go back to the apartment. As he did so, a light 'thud' sounded out as he bumped into someone about a head shorter than him.

"Sorry!" He said as he looked down to see who he had wronged. His eyes widened.

"Are those for me?" They asked as they pointed at the sunflowers. "It sweet that you still remember that they're my favorite."

Blake's wide eyes took in the sight of woman with dirty-blonde hair and innocent green eyes. She was the second most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, and he knew her. In fact, they had dated.

The flowers fell from Blake's hands.

"Sage?!"

**A/N: A mysterious woman from Blake's past appears. Why is she here? What does she want. The trio prepares for their fight with Caster. Will they succeed? Find out next time on Fate/ ReWorld.**

**A/N II: As always, if you enjoyed the chapter, leave a review and let me know what your favorite part was. If you hated it, also leave a review and tell me what I could do better. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Other than that, thank you for reading and the next chapter will be up shortly.**

**-B**


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties, This story is for entertainment only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13 - BLAKE**

**2.5 Years Earlier**

"So you play this Suingi character, in his game?" Sage asked Blake as she snuggled into him.

"Yeah," Blake laughed nervously.

The man had been afraid that his girlfriend would think he was a loser when she found out that he played Dungeons and Dragons, but the girl had immediately taken up an interest in the subject. She asked detailed questions, and genuinely seemed to care about what he was saying. But what really grabbed her interest was the characters. She asked especially detailed questions about them, and Blake was happy to indulge her.

"And you said he was married to one of Ben's NPCs?" She inquired. "What was her name again?"

"Luna," Blake reminder her.

"Right," The woman nodded. "Luna. Could you tell me more about her?"

"Well she's a very shy and timid person," Blake explained. "She doesn't like crowds and tends to hide behind people she feels safe with. But, only known to a few, she's even more powerful than Suingi. When she loses control of her rage, she becomes this terrifying flame demon, that sprouts wings, and is cloaked in hellfire. It's pretty awesome."

"You don't say," Sage said with an excited face. "Tell me more about her!"

"You got it!" He responded with a smile.

**Present**

"Ok, I'm going to need you take off your shirt and lay on your stomach." Sage instructed.

The two had arrived at the apartment that she had been renting and had decided to get started right away. The space was very open and had cloaded windows everywhere; allowing the room to be completely bathed in natural light, yet, also allowing privacy.

The diviner took off his shirt and the woman's eyes went wide. A deep scarlet blush crossed her face and she spun around to look elsewhere.

"I don't remember you being that well developed when we were dating." She said. "Just lay down on the carpet over there." She motioned without looking back. "There are some things that I have to grab before we can get started."

"Sounds good," Blake laughed as he went down on his stomach. "Do what you gotta do."

As the woman dug around in another room, Blake gave thought to her comment on his body. He was proud at how far his physical development had come since moving to Germany. For nearly a year, he had done a lot to improve his health. He had grinded away ours at the gym, on runs, and in the pool. He changed his eating habits to be more conscious about what went into his body. So, his body thanked him for it, and became more built and defined than it ever had been previously. It felt good to have someone acknowledge it.

Clattering and clanking continued in the other room for nearly five more minutes, until Sage finally came out. There were many herbs and sands in her arms as she re-entered the room.

"Now just lay still," she warned. "I need to do this exactly right, or it could possibly damage you further."

Blake gave a slight nod and the woman went to work. She began to pore out sand in a circle around him and placed various herbs and objects at certain points. She then began to use the sand to draw inside the circle and over him. The sand tickled as it landed on his back, but he stayed still as instructed.

Nearly an hour later, the woman stepped away. Preparations were done.

"Ok," She said to him. "Fair warning, this may hurt a lot. I'm forcing your body into a state of higher mana production while simultaneously boosting your stamina to compensate for the physical drain. Also, I'll be suppressing your symptoms for your lifespan damage. This will allow you to use spells that shave off your life, with nearly no side effects other than the typical mana drain you would feel. However, that also means that if you reach your lifespan limit, you're body will break down into nothing. Are you sure that you still want to do this?"

"Yes," Blake said into the ground. "Do it."

**RIN**

Rin was deep in thought. She had finished her preparations for the night ahead of her and Ben still hadn't come back, so she was left with time to allow her mind to wander.

The magus wondered who this "old friend" was, that Blake was with right now. A pang of jealousy hit her, but she quickly dismissed it. It could be a male friend that he was with. It didn't have to be a female. Yet, the feeling still lurked in the back of her mind.

Ben's teasing words echoed in her head.

"_Is his magic the only thing you two train up there?"_

**2 days earlier**

Blake was getting much better with his ace pentacle. He had figured out a way to call it consistently, but the strength of it was as inconsistent as it got.

At certain points, he could block some of her more powerful gandr shots, but at other points, his shield broke on some of her weaker casts.

Blake dashed at the woman out of nowhere and attempted to slam her with the magical shield. Admittedly, she was caught by surprise, and she was forced to enhance her legs to move herself out of the way. That had been the closest he'd ever come to landing a hit on her.

"What the hell was that?!" Blake yelled in disbelief. It was clear he had been expecting to land that blow.

"That was called strengthening magic." Rin explained. "You can use it to enhance certain attributes of objects or even parts of your body."

Blake's eyes widened in excitement. "You have to teach me that!" He said in excitement. "That's badass!"

Rin sighed and rubbed her face. He was too much. He had barely just gotten a handle on one kind of magic, and he already wanted to learn another. She had to admit, she admired his enthusiasm. Maybe he would make a good apprentice to the Tohsaka house.

"I'll teach you on two conditions." She finally said.

"Ok!" The diviner practically jumped. "What are they?"

"Firstly, you have to land a hit on me." She announced. "No holds barred."

He frowned, but then nodded.

"Secondly, agree to come on as my official apprentice." She said with a slight blush.

"What?!" The sputtered. "Your apprentice?! You mean you're willing to teach me after the grail war?"

Rin found the look on her companions face quite amusing. "Why of course." She laughed. "We haven't even scratched the surface of your potential. It would be a waste to see you go off on your own."

The look of utter disbelief hung on his face a bit longer, until it slowly formed into a broad smile.

"You're on!" He shouted as he pounded his fist into his hand. "Get ready!"

Rin smirked as he ran at her. The same head on assault wouldn't work a second time. Red and black energy swirled at her fingertips as she began to fire rapid shots of gandr at the diviner, but he ducked and wove through the barrage; deflecting stray shots with the shield he materialized.

Right when he got close, Rin enhanced her right arm and smashed through his shield; sending the poor man flying. The man drew another card and two small Pentacles appeared behind him. He flipped his legs back and used the newly formed Pentacles to kick off of; springing his body horizontally at the magus.

Rin's eyes widened as he flew at her. She attempted to fire shot after shot at him, but three thin pentacles appeared in front of him with another draw. Each shield countered a single gandr shot. Where had this level of proficiency come from? He hadn't been this good earlier.

Rin was out of options, if she enhanced her arm and punched him while he was flying at her at that speed, she could seriously injure him. Likewise, if she fired a gandr shot at this range, it would be highly unlikely that he could block it. So she just dropped her arms and let him tackle her to the ground.

Now on top of her, Blake raised his fist back as if he was going to punch her. Her eyes widened. He wouldn't, would he? His fist came forward and then stopped right before it landed.

The diviner then stuck out his finger and lightly bopped her nose.

"There we go," He smiled. "That's my hit."

She looked up at him in annoyance, but then caught sight of the smile he was giving her. Her face went red. He had a very attractive smile, and upon closer view of him, he was highly attractive. His brown eyes were warm and bright with life. His skin was clear of blemishes. Light stubble decorated the lower half of his face. And his lips...well...they were pulled into that enthusiastic smile of his.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" He asked as he got a close look at her face. "Your face is all red. Do you need me to go get you some water?"

God, he was such an idiot. The closer proximity to her face made her blush deepen. Then, realization seemed to cross his face as he realized that he was still on top of her.

"Oh!" He exclaimed as he scooted away. "Sorry about that!"

Yup, he was an idiot.

**Present**

The sound of the door opening broke Rin from her thoughts and she jumped up in anticipation; hoping it was Blake. Night was falling, and she wanted him within the protective field of the apartment before they had to leave for the battle.

The woman's shoulders slumped as the door fully opened to reveal Ben.

"Is it safe to come back now?" He asked cautiously.

"That depends," she said as she folded her arms. "Are you going to say anything idiotic that will get your head blown off your shoulders?"

"Nope," Ben shook his head. "Idiotic statements are sealed away for the night."

"Good," The girl nodded. "Come on in. We have a battle to plan for."

Ben hurried in and closed the door. "I assume you've located Caster and her master?" He asked the Tohsaka mage.

"Yes," The woman said. She then drew a circle on a city map. "This area right here was closed down due to a "gas leak". It just so happens that this building right here…" she pointed to one of the buildings in the circled area. "...is resting right over intersecting ley lines. Knowing that, it's safe to assume that that is where Caster and her master are hiding out."

"What if Caster isn't there?" Ben asked. "Or what if it's a trap for us?"

Rin gave Ben a knowing look. "It doesn't matter if it's a trap. We're going in with twice the numbers. Saber can't be touched by magic, and Lancer is immune to Caster's particular kind of magic."

The occultist looked at her skeptically. "Ok...that's all good and well for the servants, but what about us? Caster could take us out, which would effectively take out Fuddle, and make it a two on one fight; pitting Lancer against Caster _and _her master."

The woman laughed. "You seem to forget that I am a master level mage, Conners. My gem shields will be more than enough to protect us."

"If you say so." the man sighed. "Tell me more about Caster's master."

Rin nodded. "Caster's master is a magehunter for the French Branch of the Mages' Association. He was hired to win the grail for his fellow french mages. He goes by the name, Lucien Benoit. Also, his specialty is enhancement magic, making him a close combat type mage. This'll force us to have to keep him at a distance while fighting him. My hand-to-hand combat skills are good, but I can guarantee that his are much better."

"Well I don't really have any ranged-type magic," Ben informed her. "The best I could manage is fighting with my knife."

The magus turned to where she had been working and picked up a pouch. "That's why I prepared these for you." She said as she held the pouch out.

"What are they?" Ben asked as he accepted the bag.

"They're mana gems." She explained. "They're the simplest kind of gem that I could manage for a novice user. Simply pass some mana through the gem and throw it. You'll have three seconds, once your mana passes through, to get it where it needs to go."

Ben nodded as he hooked the pouch on his belt.

Rin walked over to the coat rack to put on her red pea coat, and separated certain gems into its various pockets. Once satisfied, she turned back to him.

"You ready?" She asked.

"Yeah," Ben replied. Then concern crossed his face. "You never really told me how we plan on dealing with the trap."

"Well that's simple." Rin smiled. "We spring the trap."

**A/N: The battle is coming. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you enjoyed to chapter, tell me what your favorite part was. If you didn't, tell me what I could do better. But, as always, thank you for stopping by. **

**-B**


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 14 - Rin**

The streets, in the closed off area. were creepy to walk through. The dark and abandoned landscape reminded Rin of a post-apocalyptic city. The world was quiet and the moon's light threw dark shadows all around. Not even the street lights remained on, which only added to the pressing darkness. But, Rin could sense it. She could feel the pulse of the ley lines beneath her feet, and knew that they were getting close to Lucien's base. They had to be ready for anything. This was his territory, and he wouldn't go down easily.

The magus began to feel something else as Ben and she walked through the streets. Someone was watching them. Or something. Was it Caster? Or Lucien? The eyes seemed to bore into her soul and made her heart rate accelerate. Things were about to start soon. Rin could feel it.

"Do you feel that?" She whispered to Ben.

The man nodded that he had. "What should we do?" He whispered back.

"Just keep walking." Rin responded. That was all they could do. Neither Master, nor Servant, had made themself known yet, so they'd just have to keep going. Rin reached her hand into her gem pouch and readied an emerald. "Tell Saber to stay by you. He shouldn't be affected by any ranged attacks that they have, so he can be an effective shield for you."

It was at that moment that a blast came at her from one of the roof-tops. It was a brilliant, green, blast of magic, that moved with lightning speed, but Rin had been expecting it. She instantly released the prepared form of the crystal and threw it in front of herself

"Zwanzig!" She shouted as the emerald shield appeared.

The blast slammed into the shield and exploded on impact; shattering the shield and sending both Ben and Rin sprawling to the ground.

"Awesome block, "Master Mage"," Ben groaned as he sat up; obviously mocking her earlier words. "Really showed that blast who's boss, huh?"

Rin glared at him. "We're alive, aren't we?!" she retorted.

"Ben!" Saber yelled as he threw himself in front of his master.

Another magic blast came at them, but this one seemed to warp around Saber, as if there was a sphere of protection around him. The magic resistance of the saber class was incredible.

"Lancer!" Rin called out to their remaining ally. "Take her out!"

"Already on it!" The Servant called; materializing as he ran up the wall of the building.

Blasts began to shoot out more rapidly; making the path to the building nearly impassable for anyone else. Ben grabbed Rin by the wrist and attempted to pull her to cover. Rin could tell it was only instinct, but she shook herself from his grasp anyways; letting him know she could get to cover on her own. The two magi successfully made it into the cafe behind them, and took cover behind the counter. Blasts rained through the windows and all over the streets; effectively blocking their path.

Caster's master had to be in the same building that his servant was shooting from. How would they get through that hail of magic blasts? If they tried to cross over to the building, they'd get hit for sure. Saber could only cover one of them and Rin had lost all confidence that her shield could take those blasts long enough to cross.

"Ben," Rin whispered. "Stay here. Saber and I will cross and fight Lucien."

"Are you kidding?" he shot. "You can't expect me to let you take him on alone."

The magus rolled her eyes. "How many times do we have to go over this, Conners? I'm a fully fledged mage. I don't need to be protected. Besides, I wouldn't be alone. I'd have Saber."

"Do as you see fit, but look up first." a voice sounded out in Rin's head.

The woman looked up to see nine glowing white Pentacles forming a clear path to the other side of the street; blocking the magic blasts that would stop them. Pentacles? That voice? Was that Blake? There was no way. He could barely manage three Pentacles before that morning. Now he could manage nine, that were powerful enough to block the same blasts that had shattered her gem shield? How? Wait. No. There wasn't time to think about that at the moment.

The two magi looked at each other, then took the opportunity and ran to the building that Caster was on. As they ran under the white stars, the Pentacles faded away; only holding out long enough for the two companions to pass.

Finally, Ben and Rin made it through the double doors to the tall building.

Looking around after catching her breath, Rin could tell that this was the place. Though it was dark, the ground basically overflowed with mana. This was it. This was Lucien's hideout.

Rin closed her eyes and attempted to sense magic signatures in the area. On the roof, there were two servant signatures clashing; obviously Lancer fighting Caster. But, there was one more signature as well. It was one she could recognize anywhere. That one was definitely Blake, but something nagged at her. When Blake had left the apartment earlier, he had practically been void of all mana he regularly possessed. It had been as if his circuits had gone into a coma. But now, his magic signature was giving off a reading that was almost ten times more powerful than it had ever been. Who was this friend he had met up with? What had they done to to her apprentice.

"Do you not think it foolish to be distracted so, mon chéri?" A heavily accented voice said behind her.

Rin instantly jumped back and fired a gandr shot in the direction of the voice. It's owner swatted the red and black magic to the side with ease and gave the Tohsaka magus a look of near boredom.

The man had dark hair, a mustache, and piercing blue eyes. "That was impolite, mon chéri." He sighed. "I was hoping to ask you about that man who got by me earlier. You see, he was a diviner. Though not a member of the same branch, you are a member of the Mages' Association, no? Why have you not...how do you say...eliminated him?"

Ben charged the man with his knife, while the mage seemed distracted, but Lucien simply gave the attempt a look of mild annoyance. He shattered Ben's blade with his bare fist and gave the occultist a kick in the stomach. Ben landed hard on his back; groaning in pain.

Lucien sighed. "That was minorly annoying." The man returned his gaze to Rin as she attempted to grab a gem from her pouch. In a flash, the Frenchman appeared behind her and pinned her arms behind her back. Rin struggled and tried to break free, but Lucien was too strong.

"Now, mon chéri." The mage whispered in her ear. "Tell me about this diviner and why he still draws breath."

Ben couldn't believe it. The French mage had shattered his knife like it was glass. Then, he had proceeded to crack several of Ben's ribs with a single kick. The man was a monster. Rin wasn't joking when she has said that this man was strong in hand-to-hand combat. He hadn't even flinched when Ben had charged him.

The occultist struggled to his feet. It didn't seem like anything was broken, but he couldn't be too sure.. His breathing was fine, aside from having the wind knocked out of him, and the rest of his body seemingly functioned as well.

Rin was currently struggling to break free of Lucien's grasp, but it seemed she was having no luck. This man was powerful. Close-combat mages always seemed to pose a threat to the traditional mage, and Lucien was displaying that tendency very clearly.

"_Fuddle,_" Ben called in his mind. "_I need you to free Rin._"

"_On it, boss._" The servant's voice responded back.

Saber materialized, in all his gnomish glory, and slammed a fist into Lucian; breaking his grasp on Rin and sending him flying through a wall.

"Thanks Saber." Rin nodded as she rubbed her wrists. She then turned to the hole in the wall that the Frenchman's body had made. "He's still alive in there. Let's go."

"Yeah yeah." Ben said as he walked by her. "Try not to get captured again. That won't be any way to get with my friend."

The magus went red, but she didn't take Ben's bait. "How about you don't get knocked on your ass again, and then we'll talk." She came back with.

The two then went into the hole.

It was even darker in the room the two magi and servant now found themselves in. Rin held out a gem to illuminate the dark, but shadow danced as the light shined, making the magus's eyes jump to each movement.

"You know, mon chéri, your precious diviner is going to die up there." Lucien's voice echoed as the building shook. "Maybe you should go and assist him"

Ben looked to Rin; worry evident in his eyes. "Maybe he's right, Rin. "The occultist said. "You should go help Blake.

Rin just smiled. "He's bluffing." she laughed. "I can sense it from here. Lancer and Blake are wiping the floor with Caster. They're perfectly fine up there. Besides, you're going to need someone who can use ranged magic."

"Rin," Ben began. "I'm going to have to insist that-'

"Ben." Rin silenced him with a hand and a glare. "Just don't."

As worried as she had been about Blake, now that he was okay, the thought of being around him made her feel uneasy. The way he had looked at her when he had last left the apartment lingered deep within her mind. She didn't know how he felt about her at the moment, and she couldn't handle it, if he hated her, during a fight.

"Monsieur," Lucien chuckled at Ben. "If the lady wishes to die here, then let her die here. Feel...how do you say...honored...that you are to be defeated by a magus such as me."

Ben pulled his second knife from his belt. "You know, I heard that frenchmen were stuck-up, but you sir, definitely drive that stereotype home."

A vein bulged in Lucian's forehead at Ben's comment. Purple magic circuits began to light up the man's body and his muscles began to ripple. The frenchman gritted his teeth and exploded forward, towards Ben, with deadly intent. The occultist attempted to guard himself with his knife, but the mage shattered right through it, and sent Ben flying backwards with the punch's follow-through. Luckily for Ben, the blow had been weakened by the slight resistance the knife had provided; saving the younger man from a lethal blow to his chest.

Lucien flashed after Ben to deal a finishing blow, but Rin shot red and black blasts of gandr to force the frenchman to get back.

The Tohsaka magus huffed at Ben as he struggled back to his feet. "And this is exactly why I stayed."

Ben didn't respond to her jab. Instead, he glared at Lucien. "You'll pay for that. I loved that knife." The occultist growled.

Before the frenchman could respond, the occultist threw three gems at him and jumped backwards; instantly drawing two more.

"_Fuddle,_" Ben called to his servant in his mind. "_Hold him off for a bit."_

Lucien's body took on a brighter purple as the gems exploded upon impact with his body. Dust puffed into the air, and Saber dashed at where the man had been. When the servant slashed at the dust with his sword, a powerful impact cleared all of the obscurity. The lack of dust revealed that Lucien had blocked Saber's sword with his forearm. Before the heroic spirit could react further, the frenchman gave a kick to the servant's stomach, that sent the gnome sliding away from him.

Rin instantly began firing successive shots of gandr to keep the man pinned and Ben pulled out a small inscribing knife; drawing runes on the gems he had pulled out earlier. With all preparations set, the occultist threw the first gem and then instantly threw the second one. Those would have to do something to the frenchman.

Lucien didn't hesitate. The man kicked the first gem at a dazed Saber, but the second one caught him in his planted foot. The first gem blasted Saber back with a blaze of fire and the second one froze Lucien's foot to the ground. Rin then blasted more gandr at the french magus; forcing him to power through the magical blasts.

Ben, seeing his opportunity, shouted at Rin to keep up her assault. The man then pulled out his bag of gems and chucked the entire bag at the enemy master, baseball style. The ensuing explosion would be enough to take the frenchman down. With this, they could win.

Lucien snatched the bag out of the air with surprising grace; not allowing it to come into contact with anything. He then undid the tie and emptied the bag in the direction of Rin. The female magus tried to blast the gems away from her before they could strike her, but one managed to get through; blasting her through the wall.

Putting more strength into it, Lucien successfully pulled his foot from the ice and dashed at Ben. The occultist had nothing left to defend himself with. His best knives were gone, and so were all the gems that Rin had given him. The french mage sent a powerful blow to the occultist's chest; exploding the poor occult mage's heart.

Blood filled Ben's mouth and lungs, and he began coughing up the liquid. His legs went weak and he fell to his knees, then stomach.

His vision was going dark. Had they really lost. Was this it? He guessed it was.

He couldn't breath. He felt cold. Was he dying? He didn't want to die yet. He had unfinished business. How could this be it?

Blake.

Blake needed him. They couldn't leave Blake alone on this task.

The light was getting dimmer. Everything was fading. This couldn't be.

Everything went dark.

**A/N: Bet you didn't see that coming. Or maybe you did. Who's to say really? I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Like always, if you did, write a review telling me your favorite par. If you didn't, tell me what I could have done better. Thank you for reading, and see you next chapter!**

**-B**


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment only. Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 15 - BLAKE**

Blake was running down the streets as fast as he could. He had to get to Ben and Rin. Sage had been successful in tracking down where his friends were headed and he had left immediately after the ritual; promising to come back and see her again.

In all honesty, he had no clue how much more powerful he had become, but he felt as if he was overflowing with energy. Whatever Sage had done, had at least gotten him back on his feet. The ritual, in spite of her warning of pain, had felt oddly pleasant. It had felt as if he had been dipped in a hot bath.

Blake was almost there. He could feel the pulse of mana beneath his feet and knew that it was a ley line. Mana was practically oozing from the ground.

A temporary chain-link fence blocked the diviner's way, but he was in too much of a hurry to let it stop him. "Ace of swords!" he called. And with that, the man slashed through the fence and kept running.

The closer he got, the stronger the mana in the ground seemed to get. He had to be close to an intersection.

Despite the cold air out, Blake's body burned with effort as he began to run faster; finally reaching the building that Sage had told him about. He wondered briefly how she knew so much, but quickly brushed the thought aside. She was a mage. Of course she knew what was going on.

Blake decided not to go into the building yet, and tuned into the magic frequency that Ben, Rin, and he all used to communicate with each other. But before he could say anything, blasts of green mana began to rain down from the sky.

"Lancer!" he heard a familiar voice call. "Take her out!"

"Already on it!" Blake's servant called; materializing as he ran up the building that Blake was by.

The diviner briefly caught sight of Ben and Rin as they ran into a cafe to take cover.

"Ben," he heard the familiar voice say. "Stay here. Saber and I will cross and fight Lucien."

"Are you kidding?" Ben's voice shot back. "You can't expect me to let you take him on alone."

Blake could practically hear the eye roll in the magus's next statement. "How many times do we have to go over this, Conners? I'm a fully fledged mage. I don't need to be protected. Besides, I wouldn't be alone. I'd have Saber."

Blake chuckled. He had let their conversation go on long enough. The man pulled a card from his tarot deck. "Nine of Pentacles," he said. Nine glowing white pentacles formed a path for his friends to take, and the diviner walked into the building; tuning back into the frequency.

"Do as you see fit," he chimed in. "but look up first."

"_Master, was that you I just sensed now?" _Lancer's voice sounded in Blake's head.

"_Of course,_" the diviner responded. "_I'm on way up._"

"_Are you sure, master?_" Lancer asked with concern. "_When you left today, you could barely stand._"

"_I'm sure, Lancer._" Blake answered. "_I feel __**much**_ _better now._ _Try not to kill Caster before I get there."_

"_I'll certainly try not to._" Lancer chuckled.

Blake moved to go up the stairs, but a purple glow caught his eye. The man rolled forward as a leg kicked over him.

"Ah, good eye, manseur." an accented voice came from the direction of the kick.

Blake rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. He had to go help Lancer. The man pulled another card. "Ace of Swords!" he called as he sent a sword flying at his attacker's face.

The man with the accent simply shattered the blade with his bare fist, but it was enough of a distraction to allow Blake the opportunity to run up the stairs. His attacker cursed, but became distracted as the door opened behind him.

Lancer avoided blast after blast as he finally jumped above the ledge and onto the roof of the building. Caster faced him with a very bored expression. She didn't seem impressed by him in the slightest, but he'd change her mind.

The Sorceress wore a simple black dress with sleeves and held a staff with a hourglass on the top of it. Over the dress she wore a plain black cloak. Man, and she wasn't impressed by him? She was the most generic spirit he had ever seen.

"Impressive." She said in an obviously unimpressed tone. "I was under the impression that your master was a novice at best, but he defended well against my mana blasts."

"Man," Lancer sighed. "Do all servants have to talk before the fight?"

Lancer dashed at Caster before she could respond, but the hourglass on her staff turned sideways before he could reach her. Lancer froze instantly and Caster laughed. "Not even one of the great knight classes can hold a candle to my time magic." She mocked. "You're so pathetic, Lancer. It's almost sad. I was hoping for at least a little bit of fun."

She slowly walked up to Lancer and stabbed him with a knife she had drawn from her belt. The hour glass on her staff turned back to normal and she smiled. Then her smile dropped as Lancer vanished. An illusion? No, an after imag-

Caster jumped backwards as Lancer impaled the ground from above. Caster's face paled. "You're fast Lancer. I guess I need to be more careful around you, hun."

She made the hourglass spin quickly; amplifying her speed and simultaneously slowing his speed down. Caster smiled once more and began to fire off mana blasts. Man, she was really looking down on him, wasn't she?

Without warning, pain erupted from her right shoulder. She looked down to see a spearhead protruding from her bloody shoulder. "How did yo-"

"I'll let you in on a secret since you were so keen on running your mouth." Lancer said in her ear from behind her. "You know that after-image you stabbed? I let you see that to give you an idea of what you're up against. In truth, your magic doesn't work against me. No time magic does."

"That's not possible. Only sabers are immune to magic." Caster gritted her teeth and attempted to stop time again, but Lancer simply ripped his spear from her shoulder and slammed the spear through her heart.

"Maybe against magic overall." Lancer said as he twisted the spearhead. "But I'm immune to your magic especially. You see, in my days as an adventurer, I happened to pickup a special boon. It was called "Boon of the Immortal."

Caster looked at him in surprise, she was dying. Lancer could feel it. But right before her last breath left her, she muttered that special phrase, "Noble Phantasm: Time Reversal."

Time seemed to slow to a halt, and then everything flowed backwards until Lancer found himself back behind Caster with his spear in her shoulder. Suddenly, a green circle of mana appeared in front of his face and he was forced to pull away; dodging as mana blasts accelerated towards him.

More mana circles appeared around the sorceress and more blasts came at Lancer. Though he was nimble, a blast struck him through the leg and drastically slowed him down.

All of Caster's circles of mana concentrated into one beam and shot towards the crippled servant. Lancer would have yo used his Noble Phantasm. There was no way he could take that hit head on.

Out of nowhere, Blake jumped in front of Lancer and held out a card. "Ten of Pentacles!" The diviner shouted. Ten barriers formed in front of one another, taking the brunt of the blast, but it wasn't enough. The beam was slowly shattering each barrier down.

"Lancer, get moving!" Blake shouted. "I can't hold this forever!"

Lancer nodded and shot off around Caster to hit her from behind. The spell caster smiled at this and amplified the power behind her blast; shattering through all of the barriers and blasting a hole through Blake's chest.

The man looked down in shock, not understanding why he felt so cold all of a sudden. As his eyes fell on the reason for his coldness, he began to cough up blood and fall forward. He could feel it. He was dying. He had failed. He wouldn't get to see Ben and Rin again. He wouldn't be able to thank Sage. Everything was ending. The world was cold. Dying… sucked…

**BEN**

Ben gasped as he found himself holding his bag of gems once again. Lucien was stuck to the ground like before, and Rin was laying into him with gandr shots. What had just happened? Ben looked down at his chest and then back at Lucien. He could of sworn he had just died. What had that been? No. There was no time to think. He had to act.

Instead of throwing the gems while they were still in the bag, the occultist opted to poor them all into his hand and chuck them at the frenchman. Lucien's eyes widened in shock as all of the gems game rushing at him, and with his leg pinned he couldn't get out of the way. A large explosion ensued and the french mage was forced to take the entire brunt of it.

As the smoke cleared, Ben smiled at the sight of Lucien burned and bloodied at the bottom of a miniature crater. The man seemed unable to move,but he was still breathing. They had to eliminate him and take out Caster.

"_Fuddle,_" Ben called to his servant. "_End him._"

The red-haired gnome slid down the arched side of the crater and smoothly put his sword through the mage's neck. As the frenchman took his last breath, time seemed to slow to a stop. Then everything flowed backwards until Ben found himself holding his bag of gems again.

It had happened again. That weird feeling. Was this Caster's Noble Phantasm? Could she reverse time to a crucial point in a battle? Ben shrugged, emptied the gem pouch into his hand, and threw the gems again.

Lucien smiled as an emerald gem shield appeared in front of him to intercept Ben's gems. Rin's eyes widened and she looked in her pouch to discover that an emerald was indeed missing. Lucien must have lifted it off of her when he had had her pinned.

The gems slammed into the shield, and when the smoke cleared, the frenchman was still standing tall. On top of that, the heat from the explosion had melted the ice that had been binding his foot to the ground. The man shook out his newly thawed foot and gave a very sadistic smile to the two magi in front of him.

"Shit," Ben cursed, "I guess we should probably run now." The man then grabbed Rin's and ran out of the hole they had entered through.

**BLAKE**

Before he hit the ground, time seemed to slow to a halt, and then it quickly reversed. Blake then found himself shouting, "Ten of Pentacles!" once again.

The beam slammed into the barriers like before, but this time, Lancer jumped in front of the barriers and shouted out, "Noble Phantasm: Absolute Cancel!"

The blast's force transferred all to Lancer and seemed to consume him. As the smoke cleared, Lancer still stood; unmoved by the attack.

The servant then proceeded explode towards his enemy, then moved back to his start point to flash above Caster and dive as if he were about to stab her from above. But then, he flashed back in front of her to meet his after image and stabbed her through the chest before she could even comprehend that he had moved.

Time reversed once more and Lancer found himself above Caster as his afterimage moved towards her. This time he dove down into her with amplified force and began to crash her through floor after floor until they reached the bottom level.

"Why does time keep reversing?!" Ben shouted as they ran.

"That must be Caster's Noble Phantasm." Rin called back. "She must be using it to save her and her master."

"Well it's really annoy-" he started.

Time crawled to a halt, and then flowed backwards. Ben found himself watching the smoke clear to, once again, reveal Lucien wielding Rin's gem shield. Yet, before they can move again, loud crashing sound begin to come from above. With each crash, the sound seemed to get louder until an impaled Caster crashed through the ceiling, with Lancer on top of her; impaling her to the ground. Caster dissipated into mana and floated off.

"Jesus fuck," Ben gawked. "Nice of you to join us."

Lucien's face twisted into fear and he began to run.

"_Fuddle,_" Ben called. "_Kill him._"

Saber chased after Lucien and slashed at his neck from behind. Lucien ducked and kicked the servant away; attempting to continue his escape.

"_Fuddle, go after him like a true saber!_" Ben encouraged. "_I'll give you all the mana you need for it._"

The occultist sent a wave of mana to his servant and the little gnome began to glow with power. Saber exploded after the frenchman and skewered him through the back without mercy.

The man fell dead and his command seals faded.

"I guess that's the end of that." Lancer said.

"Well that was quick." Ben sighed. "Now I feel overly dramatic."

"Trust me," a voice said from the stairs. "It was well founded."

Everyone turned to see Blake enter the room through the hole. The man was practically glowing with mana, and he walked with a new confidence.

Rin looked at him with uncertainty. Was he still upset with her for not letting him fight? Did he hate her?

Blake turned to the Tohsaka magus and gave her an apologetic smile. He then walked up to her and did something she hadn't been expecting. He hugged her. She stood there shocked for a moment, and then returned the embrace.

"I'm sorry I was such a jerk earlier." he said to her. "I know you only have my best interest at heart, and I'm sorry I doubted that."

"I forgive you." she whispered back. "I'm sorry if you felt like I was looking down on you. I wasn't. I promise."

"Well all this hugging is making me feel left out." Ben muttered. Then he felt Saber hug his leg and couldn't help but feel better.

"Let's go home." Blake said.

**A/N: I'll admit, I had trouble writing this chapter. It was hard to figure out where I should place the perspective changes, so I hope I did alright. I hope you all enjoyed. Thank you for reading and I'll see y'all next chapter.**

**-B**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 16 - RIN**

"So who was this "friend" you met up with, and what did they do to you?" Ben asked Blake as the trio walked back to the apartment. Rin had been wondering that same question herself. "You left, barely being able to carry yourself, and now you seem like you're back to par. Maybe even past it."

"Definitely past it." Rin jumped in. "Your mana readings are significantly higher. If I didn't know your magic signature so well, I would have thought that you were an entirely different mage."

Blake sighed. "I knew I couldn't hide anything from the two of you." He stopped walking and faced Ben. "You remember Sage, right?"

Rin's eyes went wide. Sage? Archer's message sounded in her head.

"_Beware of Sage._"

Rin saw Ben's eyes go wide as well. "Sage?!" The occultist sputtered. "Why is she here? What is she doing in Berlin?"

"Apparently, She was looking for me." Blake chuckled. Pink went to his cheeks a bit and that awful, ugly, feeling reared its head, in Rin's gut, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"You can't see her again." Rin commanded harshly.

The diviner gave her a confused look. "Come again?"

"You can't see her again." Rin said more calmly. "Archer transmitted a message to me before he died, telling me to "Beware of Sage."

"Well she is a mage," Blake laughed. "Maybe she's just a threat to you because you're both from famous mage houses. She's from the Chestler mage family."

"She's a Chestler?" Rin asked. "I wasn't aware of them having a daughter that was our age. Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "In fact, I have her to thank for my recovery and my boost in mana generation."

"I guess that would be the Chestler specialty." Rin said in thought. "How exactly do you know her. Ben said she was an old friend of yours."

"Well...uh...you see...uh…" Blake stumbled. His shoulders dropped. "We used to kinda...date...sorta…"

The feeling in Rin's gut gave a nauseating twist. He had been with his ex, and she was the one who had healed him. Where did that Chestler girl get off? That mage couldn't just swoop in on her apprentice and take him away from her now.

"Oh," she mumbled; struggling to contain her whirlwind of emotions.

"Yeah, and I'm going to see her tomorrow, so I can thank her." Blake smiled.

"You're what?! Didn't I tell you about Archer's warning?" Rin was bewildered by his total obliviousness to his current situation.

"Yeah, but she's not dangerous for _me _to be around." Blake waved off. "I've known her for nearly ten years. She's not going to hurt me. Besides, she'd have no reason to. It's not like she's a master or anything."

"That may be true," Rin said; attempting to collect herself. "But even if she's not a master, she is a mage. One from a family of very high standing in the Mages' Association. Diviners are considered menaces to mage society. She could be using her former connection to you to eliminate you."

"No," Blake's face was twisting into frustration. "She wouldn't do that."

Rin groaned. "Think about it, numbskull. You said _old _friend, so that means she left at some point in your life, right?"

"Yeah," The diviner's expression had gone dark. "Two years ago, what's your point?"

"Im just curious why she conveniently showed up now." Rin threw out. "Why a mage, of high familial standing, showed up in the middle of the Holy Grail War within days of one of the masters discovering that he is a diviner mage."

"She's not like that!" Blake shouted. "Just because that's the way you think, it doesn't mean that that's the way other magi think!" Blake's temper went cold. "Besides, at least she found a solution to my issue, instead of insisting on benching me."

Rin's eyes began to get hot and started to sting. The comment had been a slap in the face. It hadn't been because she wouldn't heal him. It was because she couldn't. "This is the part where you apologize." She struggled out.

"No," Blake said. "This is the part where you can shove it."

"Hey, man," Ben warned. "That's enough."

But Blake was at the point of no return. Ben's words wouldn't stop him now.

"No, man," Blake pushed past Ben and stood in front of Rin. "She needs to hear this." He pointed at Rin. "You were the one who was perfectly ok with sidelining me! You offered no plan to help me. You would have just let me stay weakened. Sage made me stronger than I have ever been. Why would someone do that if they just planned on killing me? You know, this whole thing just makes you look more suspicious to me."

Every sentence Blake shot out, made Rin's gut twist more and more. Her fight or flight mechanism began to kick in, and the magus chose fight.

"Oh really?!" Rin shot back. "I'm suspicious to you?! Don't you think that if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already? Why bother training a hopeless embarrassment of a diviner like you?"

"Maybe because you want to use me." Blake returned. "You said that tarot users were the most versatile type of offensive mages. Maybe you wanted that power at your disposal."

"You think that's the reason why I wanted you as my apprentice?!" Rin asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Blake responded. "Why else would you want someone like me to be around you after this war?!"

"Maybe because I…" Rin's face went emotionless. "You know what? It doesn't matter. See me how you want to see me. I give up. Do what you want."

"Maybe I will." Blake shot back.

"Good." Rin said as she started to walk away.

"Great!" Blake shouted after her.

"Fine!" She shouted back. Tears were streaming down her face. She was so frustrated. His words had genuinely hurt her. The fact that he though that she was exploiting him for his latent power tore at her heart.

The woman softly cried as she walked back to the apartment.

**BEN**

"You went way to far with that, Blake." Ben told his friend. He didn't seem angry, but he did seem disappointed.

Blake knew that he had pushed to far with Rin, and definitely crossed certain lines. He was just too angry to admit to that that moment.

"I didn't appreciate her telling me not to see Sage." Blake deflected. "Sage helped me get back on my feet."

"That isn't her issue, and you know it." Ben called the diviner out.

"That's what she said her issue was," Blake shot back. "Should I think she's a liar?"

"You called her worse just a moment ago." Ben said. "What's another accusation?"

"You and I both know I didn't mean it that way," Blake defended.

"You and I both know that you did." The occultist shot. "Just admit it! You screwed up tonight."

"So what if I did?!" The diviner yelled. The anger dissipated to emptiness. "I'm just an apprentice to her. It's not like she cares what I think."

Ben face palmed and put his hand on Blake's shoulder. "Out of all the years we have been friends, and all of the stupid things you have ever said; that statement takes the cake."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked. "That statement is true. A woman like her would never view me as anything more. At least she shouldn't. I'm just a lowly novice diviner. It's not like that interesting in the slightest."

"It's like stupidity is just spewing from your mouth now." Ben laughed emptily. "One, you're the _only _diviner mage; novice or not. And two, she has her pick of the lot. Don't you think that if she found someone that she was interested in, she would still be single?"

"Ok," Blake acknowledged. "I'll play along. Let's say that's true. How do I know if I'm it for her? Shouldn't the head of the Tohsaka family be with someone of higher standing? Someone that the entire mage world isn't apparently wanting kill? Let's say, for argument's sake, that she has feelings for me. Someone of her name and status in the world of mages, would have all of that tarnished if she chose me. I can't allow that." Realization was dawning on Ben's face. "In the end, it doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't matter what she feels. We can't be together." Blake took a deep breath. He wanted to to scream out in frustration. He hated that every word he was saying was true. "Now outside of that argument are the facts. She doesn't have feelings for me, so drop it."

Blake began to walk off in the opposite direction that Rin had, but Ben's voice stopped him. "So you're just gonna go off to Sage and ignore your feelings for Rin?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Blake said without emotion. He couldn't afford to feel anything for Rin. As wrong as it was, he needed to stomp out anything she felt for him.

"You're a dumbass!" Ben yelled as the diviner walked away. "Mage or not, Sage left you!"

"_You don't think I know that?!_" Blake yelled in his own mind.

"I'll see you back at the apartment." Blake finalized. And with that, the man left.

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long to put up, I wanted to have some chapters saved up so I can at least release once a day. I am pleased to inform you that I am currently in the process of reworking chapter 19 and will soon be working chapter 20. I expect this story to reach its conclusion by the middle of June, so bare with me. I'd like to take a moment to thank those who have read the story all the way through to this point, and for those that are followers of the story, I'm continuing for you. Thanks for reading!**

**-B **


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer _ I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 17 - BLAKE**

**3 Hours Earlier**

Sage's hands glowed with red light, over Blake's back. The diviner felt as if all of his strength was slowly being returned to him. It was a pleasant feeling, and he didn't want it to stop. He felt warm and comfortable.

"So tell me about this girl you were buying flowers for." Sage started up. "What's her name?"

"You may have heard of her," Blake said; smiling at the thought of the dark haired magus. "Her name is Rin Tohsaka."

A light pain pricked his back and he flinched a bit.

"Sorry!" Sage apologized frantically. "My hand slipped a bit!" The woman's voice calmed down. "So you're just friends with her?"

Blake nodded and frowned into his arms. "Yeah."

"I don't know about you," Sage sighed. "But people don't normally go out and buy flowers for someone who's just a friend. Is there something more you feel for her?"

There was. He admired Rin from the bottom of his heart. She was a powerful magus who had a strong sense of right. She was emotional, yet she cared deeply for those around her. Of course there was more, but Rin would never view him that way.

Blake sighed, "Yeah."

The diviner's body instantly began to ache. It felt as if his heart was pumping blood at twice the rate it normally did and as if his veins were stretching with the strain.

"We've reaches the second stage of the ritual." Sage murmured softly to him. The pain was getting worse. "The ritual will go as long as you can hold on, at this point. The longer you can hold on, the more powerful I can make you."

Blake gritted his teeth and nodded into his arms.

"So," Sage continued. "The Tohsaka girl. Do you know if she feels the same way about you?"

The pain dug at Blake, but he could still talk. "She probably doesn't. Why would she?"

Sage laughed. "Don't get me wrong, it's probably for the better if she doesn't, but you still shouldn't sell yourself short."

"What do you mean "for the better"?" Blake asked."

Sage stopped laughing and her tone got serious. "Think about it, Blake. She's the last mage in the Tohsaka mage family. Status and survival have to be a priority." The woman's tone softened. "Now please don't think I'm being mean by this next part. You just need to know the situation you're in." She sighed. "It's just that you're a novice mage, Blake. As far as anyone knows, you're the first mage in your family. That automatically cuts out status from your chances. And then there's safety…"

"I would never hurt Rin," The diviner cut in. "I'm her apprentice. She said that tarot users are the most versatile offensive mages. If I can master it, I could protect her."

"A tarot user, huh?" Sage laughed with an amusement that made Blake raise an eyebrow. That laugh had seemed out of character for the woman. "That explains your lifespan damage." Her tone shifted back to seriousness. "And the alerts about you." The last sentence struck something in the diviner. "As for Rin Tohsaka's safety; having you around would only serve as extra danger to her. Not only because you're a novice, but because you're a tarot user."

"What are you trying to say?" Blake asked. "That I'm not going to have time to get strong enough?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Sage sighed. "I've heard through many different channels that there's an open contract on you, once the war concludes."

Blake's eyes went wide. "What?! Why? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"The Mages' Association doesn't view it that way." Sage said with anger evident in her voice. "They view your mere existence as a threat. Mage's all around will come for you and attempt to exterminate you. Rin Tohsaka would have to throw away her status and safety to be with you; trampling all over everything her ancestors have achieved."

"But if I got strong enough, they wouldn't dare come at me!" Blake argued. His heart was breaking at Sage's words. He was trying to hold on to something, but he felt it all slipping away. "I would fight them all."

Sage sighed. "But like I said, Blake, you won't have time. Immediately after this war is over, they'll come for you. Who do you think would have to protect you until you _did _get strong enough?"

Blake's eyes were starting to sting.

"That's right." Sage continued. "Tohsaka. As powerful as she may be, she can not stand up to the full power of the Mages' Association."

The pain in Blake's body had reached an almost unbearable level, but he didn't care anymore. He felt numb inside. The future he had thought he could have, fighting alongside Rin, was slipping through his fingers. Images began to pop into his head. Images of him laying on the ground, drained of mana, and Rin trying to protect him. Images of Rin getting killed by many different kinds of magic. That's when he knew. He would be the cause of Rin's death if he stayed on his current path.

Rin's smiling face flashed into his mind.

"_...agree to come on as my official apprentice._"

He screamed out. Whether it was from the pain in his body, or the pain in his heart, he no longer knew. All he knew was that he had to keep going. He had to get stronger.

"Blake!" Sage cried out in concern. "Do you want me to stop?!"

"No!" He groaned. "Keep going!"

More images flashed in his head. These images didn't seem like ones his mind would create. They seemed like memories. He saw himself fighting Lancer. He saw Ben get decapitated. He saw Rin slumped dead against a wall.

Everything went dark.

**Present**

The apartment door opened to reveal a sleepy looking Sage. The woman rubbed her eyes and looked at her late-night visitor in mild confusion.

"Blake?" She started. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you'd be back tomorrow."

Blake's shoulders were slumped and he held a hopeless look on his face. He didn't know what he should feel. He had just shoved away not only Ben, but Rin as well.

"I had nowhere else to go." He whispered.

A look of compassion crossed Sage's face and she motioned for him to go inside. "Come in and sit down. I'll grab you some tea."

Blake nodded and shuffled inside. He felt empty inside. He knew that he had had to push Rin away. It was the only way to keep her safe. Yet doing so hurt him in more ways than one. The look of hurt on Rin's face haunted his thoughts.

The man sat down on Sage's couch and the woman went to the kitchen and started shuffling around. This really had been the only place he could go. He couldn't stand to be around Rin. If he was around her, he might have admitted the truth, and, now knowing how the magus felt about him, would have taken the path that would have lead to her death. He couldn't risk that.

Sage came back into the living room, handed him a tea cup, and sat down next to him.

"What happened?" She asked tenderly. "Were you able to make it to your friends in time?"

He nodded. "We defeated Caster and her master." Blake mumbled. "I died during that fight."

"What?!" Sage sputtered. "Then how are you still here?"

Blake shook his head with wide empty eyes. "Caster's Noble Phantasm. She turned back time everytime her or her master were defeated. Her master must have been defeated at the same time I was killed, because time reversed and I was alive again."

"So that's what's wrong?" Sage asked.

Blake shook his head. "It's part of it, but not the main issue."

"Then what's up?" Sage nudged. "It's not like you to be so down in the dumps."

"Dying made me realize that what you told me was the truth." Blake said as he began shake. "There's no way I could protect Rin from other mages. She'd just end up dying to protect me. I'm not worthy to be with her, and I'm not worthy to be her apprentice. Not as I am now."

He felt worthless. How could he have been so stupid as to think that he could protect Rin. He couldn't even protect himself.

Sage sighed. "Maybe I could help."

The diviner's eyes shot up to meet the woman's. "You could? How?"

"The Chestler family likes to collect certain objects and books." Sage explained. "One of the books that came into our possession is a book on tarot magic."

"How did the Chestler's gain possession of a book like that?" Blake asked; knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Back during the tarot mage assassinations, the book fell into my family's hands, and we've held onto it." Sage responded. "I always took an interest in it, and actually have it with me. Though only a select few can be tarot mages, I found that the magic was fascinating. Especially the part about the Higher Arcana. I can lend you the book, and even attempt to boost your mana again, but it'll cost you."

A book like that would definitely help him understand his magic more, and another boost could give him the edge he needed to defeat any mages that would hurt Rin. He would do it; no matter the cost.

"I'll do anything. I'll give you anything." Blake pleaded. "Please, just make me stronger."

"Anything?" Sage asked. "That's a big promise. Do you swear it?"

Alarm bells went off in the diviner's head, but he didn't care. He would protect Rin at all costs.

"I swear it." He said. "Please, let me be strong for Rin."

Sage brought the man into a hug and placed her mouth by his ear. "Then we have a deal."

"What do you want from me, then?" Blake whispered.

"I want you…" a laugh escaped the woman. "...to become my pet."

Blake's eyes widened and he jumped back. He felt weird, but the sight that met his eyes made his stomach drop. Sage's usually innocent smile had twisted into an almost sadistic one. The woman began to laugh as her hair turned white. When her eyes opened after she had finished, they had turned red.

A chill went down Blake's spine. He knew who this was.

"Einsbern…" he whispered; shock splashed all over his face.

"Kneel, my pet." The homunculus commanded.

When Blake didn't kneel, a shooting pain pierced through his skull. It felt as if his brain was being stabbed with a knife. His vision began to go dark.

"The more you refuse me, the more it will hurt." Einsbern sighed. "There's no point in struggling.

The pain grew to be too much and Blake fell to one knee. Instantly, the pain dissipated. The diviner was sweating and his breath had become labored.

"What was that?" He muttered.

"That, dear pet, was a geas." The woman laughed. "I created one when you swore that you'd do anything. But don't worry. I still intend to hold up my end of the deal."

"_Master!" _Lancer's voice rang out in the man's head. "_I just sensed a master appear in there._ _What's going on?_"

"What did you do to Sage?" Blake growled. Had Einsbern possessed her? He had to buy some time.

"_Einsbern caught me in a geas._" Blake responded to his servant. "_Come take her out. But don't kill her._"

Einsbern laughed again. "Oh she's here."

"Let her go!" Blake yelled.

Einsbern's laughter grew louder. "Or what? It's not like you can hurt me. What would you be willing to give in return for me letting her go?"

"I'll give you absolute obedience." The diviner claimed. Where was Lancer? He should have been inside by now.

A roar bellowed from outside and loud explosions rang out. Suddenly, Lancer came crashing through the wall, as if he had been thrown. The servant got up and attempted to charge Einsbern, but Berserker intercepted him and threw him back out.

"I already have absolute obedience." Einsbern chided; completely ignoring what had just happened. "Anything else you've got for me?"

Blake gritted his teeth. "I won't struggle against your commands is what I mean. I'll obey without question, with the exception of one instance."

"One instance?" Einsbern giggled. "Why would I give you that opportunity?"

"Because I'll end up obeying you anyways." Blake shrugged. "What's five seconds of struggling?"

Einsbern sighed. "Fair enough. Our deal is set."

"Now let her go." Blake growled.

Einsbern took in the seriousness of his face and broke out into continuous laughter. "Oh my dear pet, Sage Chestler was never a real person. She was merely a disguise I used while searching for the ultimate servant to summon."

Confusion overtook the tarot user. "What? That's not possible. Sage has been around for nearly ten years! There's no way you could have known about the war for that long!"

The woman smiled. "That's true. I found out about the war only three years ago. That's when I took up my disguise. After that, I implanted Sage's existence in the memories of those around me to make it seem as if I had been around for many years before that."

"That can't be possible." Blake whispered.

"Oh, but it is, my dear sweet pet." Einsbern laughed. "And by never taking up that persona again, I have let your precious Sage go." The homunculus put a finger to her chin. "Now, what should my first "absolute" command be over you?" The woman snapped her fingers. "Oh! I know." She gave the diviner a wicked smile. "Sacrifice your command seals to me and give me control of Lancer."

This was Blake's only chance. He only had one opportunity to temporarily resist. Instead of holding out his hand to his new master and relinquishing his command seals as she had commanded, the man raised it up into the air. Pain shot in his head, but he refused to fall to it.

"Lancer!" He called out. "By order of command seal, I command you to make a pact with Rin if ours should ever be severed." The pain amplified in his head, but he kept going.

"Master!" Lancer yelled from outside. "What are you doing! Stop!"

Blake conveyed all of the information about Einsbern to Lancer.

"_Don't worry," _Blake smiled. "_I have a plan._"

"Lancer, by order of my second command seal, I order you to return to our base and not let Rin or Ben come after me!" Blake called out.

"Master!" Lancer called. "No-" a flash went off outside and an angry Berserker roared.

The pain brought the diviner to his knees. Every fiber of his being felt as if it were being pulled apart. His left hand held his right wrist at his chest and he grit his teeth and closes his eyes.

"Lancer!" He struggled out. "By order of my last command seal, I hereby sever our pact!"

Instantly, all the pain he felt faded. "Sorry, Einsbern." He grinned as he fell onto his his hands. "It seems like I don't have any command seals to give you."

"Why you…" Einsbern seethed. "You'll pay for that later."

The homunculus walked up to the meddling man and kicked him in the face.

Everything went dark.

**A/N: And the other shoe drops. Thank you all for reading! As I said in my last message, I will be posting a chapter daily until the stories completion. Each chapter will go up at about 1200 pacific time. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I that you will enjoy more in the future! Thanks again!**

**-B**


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18 - RIN**

Rin didn't know what to say as she entered the apartment. One second she was warning Blake about Sage, then the next, he was accusing her of using him. Truth be told, his words had devastated her. She had felt so much sadness on her walk back that she hadn't stopped crying the whole way, but now that she was alone, she was pissed.

The magus screamed and released a wave of mana. The table flipped over and the chairs flew all over the room. A whirlwind of emotions took her over. She didn't know if she should keep screaming or start to cry again. Why did her chest hurt so much? Why did she feel so nauseous? Why had the diviner's words affected her so much? He was just an idiot, wasn't he? She was the head mage of the Tohsaka house. Some novice mage shouldn't be making her feel this way.

Was this all her fault? Was he acting that way because she couldn't admit that- No! This was his fault. He was the one who started being a jerk. He was the one who had been hanging out with his ex. He was the one who had said those cruel things to her and accused her of motivations that she hadn't ever considered having. This was all him. All that stupid novice idiot. Not her.

Right?

Rin stormed into one of the bedrooms and slammed the door; throwing herself on the bed. Sobs of anger and sadness wracked her body. What if it had been all her fault? What if he was mad that she couldn't admit her feelings? Was that why he had sought out that Chestler girl? Because Rin couldn't admit to even herself that she...that she...cared...for...him…

She cared for him?! Holy crap, she cared for Blake. Everything crashed down on her. It all made sense. That twisting in her gut had been jealousy. She had been jealous of Sage! All of Ben's comments came back to her. Had it really been that obvious? She had to tell him. She had to let him know!

Then she remembered what he had said to her and her heart sank. There was no way that he felt the same if he had said things like that.

Rin buried her face in the pillow and screamed.

As the last of her breath left her, a knock came at the door.

"What?!" She yelled.

"Are you ok in there?" Ben's voice came with a cautious tone. He must have just gotten back.

"I'm great, Ben!" Rin shouted. "Just peachy!"

There was a pause. "Can I come in?"

What was his deal? Couldn't he tell that she didn't want to talk? Couldn't he tell that she was upset?

"Only if you want your blown off!" She yelled.

"Oh," Ben's voice muffled through the door. "I guess I'll just clean up the living room then."

Great. Now she felt like a jerk. What was next? Extreme puppy kicking?

The magus sighed and crawled out of the bed to the door; opening it to let the man in. He had a worried expression on his face. Rin stepped aside and he strode past her. She faced him and crossed her arms.

"What do you want, Ben?" She asked with mild annoyance.

"You've been crying." He observed.

Rin turned away and rubbed at her eyes to relieve them of any remaining moisture. "That's ridiculous." She deflected. "Mages don't cry. Especially over stupid, idiot, novice, mages."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back at Ben. The man held sincerity on his face.

"I'm sorry he said what he said," Ben apologized. "I hope you could tell that he didn't truly mean it."

Rin scoffed. "Didn't mean it? Ben, he accused me of using him. Why would he say that if he didn't feel that way on some level? Let's just face it. He hates me. He probably always has. The only reason why he agreed to be my apprentice is probably because he felt some sort of pity! You know what? I hate him too then. Maybe he shouldn't be my apprentice after all. May-"

"He was trying to push you away!" Ben cut in.

"He...what…?" Rin asked in shock.

"He thinks you belong with someone of higher status and that it'll be dangerous for you to be around him." Ben told her.

"What?" Rin asked. "Why? What does status have to do with anything? And what does he mean that it'll be dangerous to be around him?"

Ben let out a deep sigh. "He thinks that since you're a Tohsaka, you deserve better than him. As for the danger part, I looked into that. I went back to Lucien's body and channeled his spirit. Apparently an order went out a couple nights ago from the Mages' Association. It was an execution order for "the tarot mage in the Holy Grail War". As soon as the war is over, Blake will be targeted by hundreds of mages from every branch. They think he's a menace to mage society."

Rin's eyes were wide. "That's ridiculous!" She shouted. "The only person Blake is a menace to is Blake! There's no way he'd try to overturn mage society. What are they thinking? Where's Blake now? We need to find him."

Ben held up his hand. "Hold on, Rin. The order is for after the grail war. Currently, he's in no danger."

"I don't care," Rin said without pause. "I still want to see him. I have some shit to work out with him. Do you know where he went?" Knowing Blake's line of thinking now, the magus had a feeling that she already knew the answer to that question.

Ben shifted nervously. "Well you see...he umm...well the thing is…he went…"

"He went to Sage," Rin finished for him. "He did it to drive me away further, didn't he?"

"I can't say for sure," Ben smiled nervously. "But yeah, he wanted to drive a bigger wedge between you and him."

"Then I'm going." Rin said with an air of finality. No dumb Chestler girl was going to make moves on her apprentice.

"Rin!" Ben called. "Wait, we don't even know where Sage lives! How will you find him?"

"If Blake's at her place, then I can find it." Rin said as she threw on her coat. "When he agreed to be my apprentice, a sort of bond was form. Through that bond, I can sense his magic and track him. It was originally intended for apprentices to find their masters, but the bond works both ways."

"Rin!" Ben shouted. "Just hold u-"

A flash of light in the room interrupted the occultist, and both magi turned to see a wounded Lancer, leaning on his spear to keep himself upright. The servant had a sad and angry look on his face; sending off red lights in Rin's head.

If Lancer was there and wounded, then where was Blake? It had been as if the servant had been summoned to the apartment, but a feat like that could only be achieved through a command seal. Why would the diviner use a command seal to send Lancer back.

"Lancer," Rin rushed over to the spearman. "What happened?! Where's Blake?!"

"He was taken by Einsbern," Lancer groaned in pain. "Rin, we need to hurry. I need you to make a pact with me or I'll fade soon."

"What?!" Rin asked in shock. "Why?"

"I'll explain after," Lancer groaned as mana began to rise up off of him. "Just hurry!"

Rin didn't know what was going on, but Lancer seemed desperate. The magus steeled herself and complied to the servant's wishes. She held out her hand towards him and began to chant.

"Answer my call," her voice echoed. "My will creates your body, and your blade creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer me. I hereby swear that I shall be all that is good in the world, and that I shall defeat all that is evil. Seventh Heaven clad and the great words of power, come forth from the Circle of Bindings, Guardian of the Scales!"

Immediately, Lancer stopped dissipating. All of his wounds began to close up as Rin's mana flowed to him and three command seals now decorated Rin's hand.

Lancer breathed a sigh of relief, but that was all he got. Rin got up into his face, without pause, and instantly began questioning him.

"What happened?" She asked. "How could you let him get taken? What were you doing? Did Sage have something to do with this? How did he get taken?

Question after question after question flew out of the woman's mouth, not giving the servant time to answer even one. With each question, the magus became more and more upset, and her voice grew louder and louder, until her body slumped forward. Her voice came quiet now; barely even a whisper.

"Is he even still alive?"

Lancer looked down at his new master's withdrawn form. He could tell that she was shutting down. It was very unlike the magus to do so. In the couple of weeks he had known her, she had seemed strong and energetic. In truth, just by the mana flow he was receiving, she was already a much better master than Blake had been; at least on paper. Yet, there she was. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking.

He didn't want to have to answer any of her questions. He knew his answers would only hurt her more, but she had to have them.

"I think you two should sit down for this."

**A/N: Lancer appears. We're slowly reaching the climax people. Thank you for checking out my story, and I hope that you will continue reading it.**

**-B**


	20. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 19 - ?**

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

The sound of a clock continued on and on. The man had long forgotten where he was, who he was, and even why he was.

"I am all that exists." A girl with white hair said. She smiled at him. Smiling was nice, Right? Maybe she was a friend. Maybe she could tell him who he was.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

The clock kept moving.

"Nothing else is real." The girl continued with rhythmic voice. Her voice was high in pitch, but it was soft and soothing. He enjoyed listening to it. He wanted to absorb every word that she said. He just wished he didn't feel so blank between the ears.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Why was that clock so loud? It was distracting him from his thoughts. He felt like he couldn't focus on anything besides the sound of the clock and the woman's voice. He decided he'd rather listen to the woman's voice.

"Everything you think you know is false." She cued.

How could that be? He no longer knew anything. How could the things he knew be false if he didn't know anything. All he knew was this woman in front of him. All he knew was that her voice soothed the emptiness he felt. All he knew is that he must listen and obey.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Those people you called your friends are nothing but fakes." She said with sadness in her voice. "They only want to deceive you."

Friends? He had no friends. Only her. He knew only her. He wanted to please only her. He didn't want friends. Especially ones that would betray and deceive.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"I am the only one who will ever be there for you." She comforted. "I will never deceive you as they have.

That made him so happy that he could cry. That is all he desired. He desired to be by her side. By her side forever. There was no place else he wanted to be.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"But I want you to return to them." She sighed.

He looked up at her in shock. Why would he do that? He couldn't leave her. He didn't want to. Why would he go back to those fakers? They didn't want him. Only she wanted him. They were deceivers. Liars. He hated them.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Do not worry," she reassured. "I just want you to show them the cruel fate of reality. How deceivers such as the deserve to be punished."

Now he saw. She wanted him to dispose of those pretenders. They weren't real. Only her. Only she was real. He would destroy everything that was false. False friends. Deceiving friends. Then he could just be with her. Only her.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"You were lost." She whispered.

He had been. But now he had her. Someone who was real. Not a deceiver like these friends she told him about.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Floating in a void." Her voice echoed.

No. Now he was in her light. She would guide him. He'd do whatever she wanted. He wanted to please her.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Now you are found." She smiled.

Yes. By her. This woman had found him. She was giving him purpose. She cared for him. No one else. No fakers. Just her. Only her. Not those deceivers. Those despicable ugly deceivers.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Serve me." She commanded.

He couldn't think of anything that would make him happier. He wanted to serve her. He needed to serve her. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't serve her. There was nothing more he could ever ask.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Destroy those who have abandoned you."

He would do that. Not for him. But for her. Because she wanted him to. He wanted to do whatever she wanted him to do. She was all that mattered. She was the only thing that would ever matter.

Tick.

The sound of the clock stopped.

For that is my will." She finished.

And he would carry it out. He would carry out that will to the fullest. He wouldn't fail. He would destroy anyone for her.

"Yes," He said. "My mistress."

**RIN**

Rin stood on the rooftop of the apartment and gazed over the cityscape. The night was still, but the fact of that was only amplified by the lack of company that she had come to enjoy. Though the stars were bright above, she found that she could not fully enjoy them. Her gaze turned to the forest on the outskirts of Berlin. Somewhere in there, Blake was being made to do whatever that Einsbern bitch wanted. The magus clenched her fists at the thought. She hated waiting around, but she knew it was necessary.

Or maybe she didn't.

**Two days earlier**

"What do you mean "he doesn't want us to go after him"?!" Rin burst.

The woman had calmed down immensely after finding out that Blake's mana signature was still active. If that was still active, then that meant he was alive. If he was alive, then that meant they had to save him.

"It confused me as well." Lancer responded calmly. "But then I started thinking about it strategically."

"What is strategic about that at all?" Rin asked. "That'll just give Einsbern more time to hurt and twist him more!"

"He's probably counting on that." The Servant said. "Einsbern is still bound by their geas to make him stronger. Yet, he's always had a strong faith that he could never surpass you as a mage. He knows that eventually, if you guys don't go to get him, Einsbern will send him after you. That's where a strategic advantage will occur."

Rin's eyes widened as she began to process what her new servant was saying. "Home-field advantage." She whispered to herself.

"Exactly." Lancer nodded. "If you go after him, then you will fall prey to Einsbern's traps and even him. But, if you wait for him to come to you, you can capture him and attempt to break Einsbern's hold on him."

"That filthy liar." Ben muttered. "He deceived me."

Rin and Lancer looked at the occultist in confusion.

"He told me that he sucked at strategy games, so he didn't play them." The man explained. "But to think that far ahead...that's insane. Especially after an unforeseen circumstance."

Both master and servant let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Really? That's what has you so upset?" Rin asked.

**Present**

"You know, Frau Tohsaka, you're looking awfully distracted." a voice interrupted Rin from her thoughts.

The magus turned to see a brown haired woman, about the same age as herself, standing several meters away. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and she wore glasses on her face. Rin recognized her. She was the top magus of the German branch of the Mages' Association. The Princess of Death herself. Sarah Schrodinger. Also known as: the master of Rider.

"_Lancer,_" Rin called in her head. "_I'm going to need you._"

"Frau Schrodinger," Rin greeted as she readied herself. "How pleasant it is to see you."

Lancer materialized and dashed at the other master, but was intercepted by another materializing warrior. This warrior had a skeleton face and wore dark plated armor.

Sarah sigh. "I did not come here to fight, Frau Tohsaka." she said. "I came her to give thanks and information."

Rin observed the german magus with suspicion. "And why would you do that? Aren't we enemies?"

"During normal circumstances, yes." the other master responded. "But these are far from normal circumstances."

"I'm listening." Rin prompted.

"First of all, I wanted to thank you for taking care of the frenchman." Schrodinger bowed her head. Her eyes then returned to Rin's. "Him and I had been at a stalemate for a while until you three came into the picture. I couldn't get around his time reversal and he couldn't get around my death. It was very frustrating. So I thank you."

Rin nodded. "What's the information you have?"

Sarah smiled. "Straight to the point as always, Frau Tohsaka. Very well. I know where Einsbern is keeping your friend."

"What?!" the gem mage jumped. "How?"

"I have my ways." Sarah chuckled. "I'll take you there on one condition. Your occultist friend doesn't come."

"Why not?" Rin asked.

"The whole purpose of my magic is to put people in the ground." Sarah explained. "His does the opposite, and it makes me very uncomfortable."

"Fair enough," the dark haired magus acknowledged. "But why should I trust you?"

The lighter haired magus laughed. "Oh you shouldn't, Frau Tohsaka. On any other day, I would be trying to put _you_ in the ground, but my family swore an oath."

"An oath?" Rin asked. "What kind of an oath?"

"An oath to protect and serve any diviner mage we meet or come into contact with." Sarah responded.

Rin's eyes went wide. That was right. Before the Schrodingers joined the Mages' Association, they had been an independent mage family that opposed the execution order against the tarot mages.

"So your priority is Blake's protection and safety?" Rin inquired.

"Yes." the other mage responded simply. "He shouldn't be left to Einbern for too long. She could kill him out of simple boredom."

Rin thought a moment and then remembered the plan. Her shoulders slumped forward. "I'm sorry, I can't go." She said. "I have a roll that I need to fulfill here."

The other master sighed. "I expected more from the famous Rin Tohsaka. I'll tell you what. I'm going after him in two days, if you want to come along, meet me here." The woman walked past the two servants and handed Rin a card with an address on it. "Make the right choice."

A red horse seemed to explode from another dimension. Rider and Sarah got on, and with that the horse took off and disappeared into the distance.

Rin stared down at the card in her hand She didn't know what the right choice was, but she could only do the best with what she had.

"_Master Rin,"_ Lancer called. "_Are you ok?"_

"_No, Lancer."_ She responded. "_I don't think I am."_

She sighed and went back down stairs

**A/N: Rider's master comes with a proposal**. **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Next one will be up at the same time tomorrow. Thank you for reading, and see you later.**

**-B**


	21. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 20 - BLAKE**

Blake was not doing well. He had lost track of how long it had been since he had been captured. As per their agreement, Einsbern came in several times a day and forced him to study the tarot book she had. Then she she would boost his power until he blacked out. Each time he awoke, the process would repeat.

He felt like he was losing himself. The pain that the boosts inflicted on him, chipped away at his soul every time he was put through them. He'd even wake up to find blood all over his hands. He hoped that it was his own. Einsbern could make him do anything while he was unconscious.

The door creaked open and one of Einsbern's homunculus servants came in. The red-eyed maid came up to the chair that the diviner was strapped to and set up a small circular table with two tea cups and a pot of tea in front of him. Another servant came in with an elegant looking wooden chair and promptly left with the first.

The moment the two servants exited the room, the white-haired horror of a woman strode in with her signature giggle. She said nothing as she sat down and poured tea into both of the cups. She proceeded to put sugar into the one closest to her, and when she was satisfied, sat back and waved her hand. The bindings on Blake dissipated instantly.

"You know," Einsbern chided. "If you resisted less, it wouldn't hurt as much."

Blake picked up the tea in front of him, took some in his mouth, and spit it in her face.

Einsbern sighed as he fell out of his chair; pain shooting through his brain. It had gotten so much worse since it had first graced him back in her apartment.

"Say the words, my pet," Einsbern sighed.

"I...truly…apologize...my dear...mistress…" The diviner forced out. He did his damnedest to make sure that each word dripped with resentment. The pain dissipated and he got back into the chair.

The homunculus gave another sigh. "I'm getting awfully tired of this, pet. You say those words as if you hate me."

"Eat shit, bitch," Blake spat back. Pain split through his head again and he found himself back on the floor.

"Say the words," Einsbern rolled her eyes. "But from now on, say them like you mean them."

"I truly...apologize...my dear...mistress," He said with venom once again. The pain in his head exploded to another level. It was like nothing he had ever experienced. It felt as if someone had shoved a power drill into his head and was holding down the trigger. He let out a scream.

Einsbern clicked her tongue at him. "I said, "like you mean it", pet."

"Fu...ck...you…" Blake struggled out. The pain intensified even more, as if the drill head had increased in size.

"The more you keep this up, the more it will hurt." Einsbern repeated herself. Then she laughed. "But I do find it amusing that you think you can resist me forever."

The pain was too much. His vision was fading. He had to hang on, so that Einsbern could send him to Ben and Rin. He needed to hold on. That meant he had to shelve some of his pride.

"I...truly...apologize...my...dear...est...mistress," he struggled out with all the sincerity he could muster.

The pain evaporated in an instant and he struggled back to his chair; dripping with sweat.

"Very good, pet!" Einsbern clapped. "Now do you get it? Resistance is futile. You are my pet, for as long as your life may be. Are you not happy to have a mistress such as myself?"

"I'd rather eat cyanide capsules like cereal, honestly." Blake muttered.

"You really are feisty." Einsbern laughed. "I'll let you have that one, but that is only mercy for the news I'm about to give you."

"What news could you have, that I would want to hear?" The diviner sassed. "Scratch that. What news do you have, that I would believe even a word of?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," Einsbern smiled and said casually. "Sunny all day, traffic, "gas leaks" in the city. That sort of thing." her smile grew wider. "Oh, and the murder of Rin Tohsaka."

"What?!" Blake burst. Rin wasn't dead. She couldn't be. She was too powerful to go down, especially now that she had Lancer. She couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible.

"Interested now, are we?" The woman teased. "Yes, Rin Tohsaka died in a "fire" last night. It was such a tragedy." her face wore fake sadness. "Her friend, Ben Conners, perished as well. It was so so sad."

No, Rin and Ben couldn't be dead. They wouldn't fall to a fire. They were mages. She wasn't telling the truth. She couldn't be. They were alive. They had to be.

"You're lying!" Blake shouted.

"Aww, you're in denial," the homunculus cued. "That's so adorable, but you should be able to tell now. You do realize that you were bonded to the Tohsaka girl, correct?"

Blake's eyes were wide. "Bonded?"

"Yes. Bonded," Einsbern said with disgust in her voice. "Close your eyes and picture her."

The diviner did so.

"Now reach out for her mana signature." She continued. "You should be familiar enough with it."

He reached and reached; desperately searching for any sign of Rin's signature. He stretched his mind to every point in the city and the areas around it. He searched. Where was she? He searched. She had to be there. He searched...

But she wasn't.

All he found was emptiness and cold, black, darkness.

His eyes snapped open. Einsbern was telling the truth. Rin was dead. Ben was dead. That meant that no one would break him free. No one would save him. The woman he cared for and the man that was his best friend were both...dead.

He felt it.

He felt it as all the fight left his body. He couldn't even cry. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He thought he could vomit at any moment. His friends were dead. The people he cared about were dead. Everything up until now had been pointless. His life was pointless. This world was pointless. How could he create a world where the people he cared about could smile freely, if the people he cared about were dead. His dream was pointless now.

"Now now, my dear pet," Einsbern cued as she walked over and pulled him into an embrace. He didn't have the strength to struggle anymore. "It's ok. I know it hurts, but I can make it all go away. I am here to help you."

"How.." Blake managed to get out. His chest hurt. His gut felt twisted. He hated the way he felt. He hated this pain in his heart. "How can you make it go away." He hated this world.

"Submit your mind to me completely," Einsbern whispered. "And I'll make the pain go away forever."

Yes. He didn't want to feel pain anymore. He didn't want to hurt. There was no point in resisting anymore. There was no point in fighting back. They had lost. He wanted relief. He wanted death.

"I…" There was no point to anything anymore. So what if he destroyed the grail? So what if he was the hero? He'd have nothing left besides that fact. His life would have no meaning anymore.

"...submit…"

Einsbern pulled away and smiled. "Good boy."

Blackness took his vision and he fell. He fell aimlessly down. Down into the darkness. Down into the depths of his mind. He fell and fell. Deeper and deeper he went. He fell until a dim light began to shine beneath him. He fell deeper still. The light engulfed him. It stripped him. It seemed to wipe away his very existence.

When Blake opened his eyes, he didn't find himself in the room he had just been in. No. He now found himself in a broken wasteland, with nothing but dried cracked dirt. The air stung in his throat and the atmosphere seemed to press down on him. The world was a dark one, with only a moon to light it. This must have been his purgatory. This must have been his punishment for failing the world.

The man began to walk. This would be his hell.

**RIN**

"Rin," Ben called. "Hellooo! Earth to Rin!"

Rin jumped. She had been spacing out again. It was weird, she had gotten a strange feeling just now. Maybe it was Blake. She made a mental note to check their bond later. It had been a day since Schrodinger had made her offer to Rin. The magus had one more day to decide what she would do and she would be lying if she said she wasn't tempted.

"Sorry, Ben," she sighed as she rubbed her face. "What were you saying?"

"Man, are you ok?" The occultist asked. "You've been out of it a lot lately."

Annoyance twinged in the magus, but she shoved it off. He kept asking her if she was ok, and her answer hadn't changed.

"You really need to stop asking me that." She sighed.

It had been three days since Blake had been taken. They had been forced to remain in the apartment and do nothing until Blake returned. Lancer had told her that the only way he would allow her to leave was if she used a command seal, and she knew that Blake would be upset if she wasted something like that. Of course she wasn't "ok". Was Ben, himself, "ok"? His best friend had been taken, and he was acting as if nothing had happened at all.

"Sorry," Ben laughed nervously. "Force of habit, I guess." When she didn't say anything further, he continued. "Anyways, I need your help on a certain spell."

Rin's interest piqued. "What kind of spell?"

"During the fight with Lucien, I died." Ben said with a shiver. "I know you saw. I want to put a fail-safe inside my body so that that doesn't happen again...or at least make it harder."

The magus motioned for him to continue.

"There's a type of magic that goes along with my occult magic." Ben explained. "It's higher level and higher risk. It's called possession magic. It would allow me to become partially possessed and use the life force of the spirit possessing me to protect me from dying. That way, if I were to die, it would be the spirit that went instead, and I would heal from lethal wounds. For this to work, I'd need to inscribe myself with wards to maintain control over my body, but I can't do that by myself. If I have the concept right, it would be close to creating a magic crest."

Rin put a finger to her temple in thought. The concept seemed doable enough, but the execution seemed highly inefficient. It would be close to creating a magic crest, true, but not absolutely the same. All it would take would be for one of the wards to be damaged and Ben could lose himself. An idea came to mind.

"I could implant a gem, in your body, with the inscribed wards." She said. "It would then dissolve within you and basically merge the warding with your DNA. This would allow you to manage the possession more efficiently and there would be virtually no chance of the wards being damaged. The only drawback would be that you'd have to wait until the gem dissolved, but that's about it."

"You know," Ben said in awe. "I'm glad I asked. I would have just carved the wards into my body and called it a day."

Rin let out a sigh of exasperation. "Just show me the wards and I'll get started on inscribing them into a gem. I'll even overcharge the gem so that it will dissolve faster. I could use the distraction."

She didn't want to think about Blake. She didn't want to think about Schrodinger's offer, and she most definitely didn't want to think about Einsbern.

**BEN**

After Ben had showed the wards to Rin, she got started right away. The woman worked with a proficiency that, in all honesty, surprised the occultist, even though he knew it shouldn't. The woman was a high tier magus, after all.

Figuring his help wasn't required anymore, the blonde man decided to go for a stroll through the city and visit the areas where ley lines intersected. He enjoyed the energy surrounding those areas. It helped calm him from what he was feeling.

He left Fuddle with the woman to make sure their base was extra secure. He needed to be alone.

Unknown to Rin, he was hurting just as much as she was, if not more. He just didn't wear it on his sleeve like she did. Why wouldn't he be upset? His best friend was taken by someone he had trusted. It pissed him off. He hated Blake's plan, and he hated waiting around.

He soon approached the intersecting ley lines. This particular area was one of his favorites. It seldom had any people around, and it was wide and open. There was also a bench he liked to sit at while he soaked in the ley lines' energy, but as he got closer, he noticed that it was occupied by a woman with brown hair tied up into a ponytail.

When Ben's footsteps became audible to her ears, the woman turned and observed the disturbance to her peace. When her eyes fell on him, she sighed and turned back to where she was looking before.

The occultist moved to approach her, but when he came within ten meters of her, he felt it. He felt the death that swirled around her in a vortex of pain. He knew this magus well. He didn't keep up with many magi, but this one was one of the exceptions.

"Sooo...what's the Princess of Death doing in a place as peaceful as this?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, spirit violator." She said back with no emotion.

A twinge of annoyance spiked in Ben, but he kept his cool. He wouldn't let her get a rise out of him.

"Well that was uncalled for," he muttered.

"Funny," she chuckled without humor. "I was thinking the same thing about your existence."

The annoyance turned to irritation. She really did not like him. She wasn't pulling any punches. Ben attempted to collect himself.

"Now stop disturbing my peace, before I decide that you're actually worth killing, just to keep it." She waved him off.

"What's your problem!" Ben finally burst. "You're awfully rude to someone you've never met before!"

The woman sighed and then looked at him. "You're right, I don't know you." She said plainly. "But I know your kind. You defile the dead and use them for your own twisted purposes."

"Says _the princess of death_!" Ben shot back. "Besides I don't use them without their consent. You know nothing about me!"

"Right," She said. "Death. I kill people. I don't defile the sacredness of their death. I honor it."

"It's two sides of the same coin, Princess." The occultist responded.

She let out an annoyed sigh and got up. As she walked past him she stopped.

"You're lucky that you're friends with the diviner and the Tohsaka girl." She whispered. "If you weren't, you'd be dead already. Please tell Frau Tohsaka that she has only one day left to decide, otherwise I will take things into my own hands."

Before Ben could get another word out, the woman vanished.

**A/N: I'm really enjoying the direction my story has taken. In my initial draft, many events, in the product you are now reading, did not occur. I feel that I have definitely smoothed over many plot points, but I am certain that there are many more that I'm missing. For those of you who have been following the story and have taken the time to read up to this point, I want to thank you. Not many people, that I know, enjoy stories that involve OCs. I hope you all have enjoyed the aspects of both worlds that I have tried to include. Anyways, thanks again for reading, and I hope you continue to do so in the future!**

**-B**


	22. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 21- ?**

Blood dripped off of the man's sword as he pulled it from the woman's chest. He smiled. Mistress would be pleased with him. Mistress would acknowledge him for the slaughter he had committed and praise him. He had carried out his work well. He had been trapped inside that damned man for far too long. He was happy that he could come out and play. He was having so much fun.

The building had been filled with one hundred people. The woman he had just shish-kebabbed had been death number ninety-six. That left him four more to find. He laughed and licked his lips at the thought of running more people through. Pleasure racked his body with each kill and his joy grew bigger. He loved that Mistress let him do things like this. This just showed how much Mistress loved him. He would slaughter many more in her name.

The man stepped over body after body; enjoying the sound he heard as his boots splashed in the blood. The smell of death in the air aroused him greatly as he went into the next room.

That's when he heard it. It was faint, but it was definitely there. The muffled sound of sobbing. He could hardly hold in his elation at discovering someone else. This would be kill number ninety-seven. The sobs seemed to originate from one of the closets, and he began to whistle as he walked towards it. His steps were slow and poised. He had all the time in the world. Mistress had created a bounded field around the building and let him go to town.

As he approached the closet, he could practically taste the fear in the air. It filled the area like a fog. The man loved it. His arousal grew. He decided he'd toy with number ninety-seven. He didn't want the fun to end, so he'd play a trick.

He made his footsteps loud and apparent as he walked at a painfully slow pace, by the closet. The fog of fear thickened immensely. He could practically hear the whine of terror. A new smell joined with that of death. It was the pungent smell of piss. The man had to stop himself from busting out into laughter. Number ninety-seven had pissed themself! That was hilarious!

The man finally passed by the closet and entered the next room. At that point, he opened his ears and waited. Not five seconds later, a sigh of relief met his sound receptors. He wanted to laugh so badly, but he knew he had to wait. He quietly moved back to the door of the room and waited patiently for number ninety-seven to make their move.

Five minutes of total silence passed,until the closet door slowly creaked open. Ninety-seven peaked out their head out and looked from side to side. Who ninety-seven ended up being, made the man want to laugh even harder now. Ninety-seven was a giant of a man, with rippling muscles and a scary face. Yet, the big man had cowered away and pissed himself. It was truly comical.

Ninety-seven finally came all the way out and began to walk in the opposite direction of the man. The man smiled and followed behind him quietly; matching his footsteps with ninety-seven's. He followed the big man all the way down to the bottom level and to the front door. For a man who was scared for his life, the big oaf showed a surprising lack of awareness.

Once ninety-seven reached the door and realized he could not open it, the man following him couldn't contain himself anymore. He let out howling laughter. He couldn't stop laughing. When ninety-seven turned with horror on his face, the man could only laugh harder. The look on the big one's face was priceless.

"Why can't I leave?" Ninety-seven said in almost a whisper; fear drenching his face. "Why are you doing this? Why won't you let me leave?"

The man laughed. "Because there's still more fun to be had." His face twisted in thought. "But you know what? I'll let you go. Yes, that's what I'll do. Go. Shoo. Just don't tell anyone what happened here, okay?"

Ninety-seven nodded furiously. "I swear! I swear I won't tell anyone. Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Of course," the man smiled sickly. "Try the door again. It should open now."

Ninety-seven spun around and threw open the door. Sobs of relief sounded from his large frame as he went out the door. The big man looked around and sighed; turning to leave. Then a roar rang out and ninety-seven screamed as he was torn limb from limb by a blazing she-demon.

The sickening sounds that came from the slaughter created much joy for the man. He laughed in glee.

Yes. Mistress would most definitely be pleased. Only three left.

**Rin**

Rin let out a sigh as she leaned back. The warding was done on the gem. Now all that was left was to overcharge it with mana. The warding had actually been quite simple and she had finished it with relative ease and quickness. She smiled as she admired her work. It was one of the better inscribed gems she had made, if not the best. It would surely work without issue.

The magus gave another sigh. It was time to check her bond with Blake. She always felt anxious when she checked it for fear of finding that he was dead. In truth, she had been pushing it off that day. She had this horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't help but feel that it had to do with Blake.

She smacked her cheeks. She could do this. She was going to check, and he was going to be ok. He had been ok the last two days. This day would be no exception. She hated that she was using a term like "ok" in place of "not dead", but it's what kept her moving forward.

Rin opened her mind. A blue and white double helix spiraled off through the city and into the forest. As she felt her consciousness travel along it, she shuddered. The white part of the helix was slowly turning gray, and then it darkened deeper into black. Red cracks were beginning to show in the black and Rin felt dread wash over her. What was this? It was perverse and disgusting. It was as if her apprentice's magic had been corrupted to its very core.

Rin's mind snapped back to her body and she gasped for air. What had just happened? Blake's mana signature had been corrupted to an unimaginable extent. Usually, his mana felt warm and welcoming. It was bright. But what she had just seen, was the opposite. It was disgusting, and evil. It was darkness itself.

She couldn't afford to let Blake stay with Einsbern any longer. She had to go with Sarah. She had to save him. The rest of his uncorrupted mana wouldn't last long.

The door to the apartment opened and a very angry looking Ben walked through it.

Rin gave him an amused look. "What going on with your face?" She teased.

"When were you going to tell me?" He asked angrily.

"Excuse me?" Rin asked. What was he talking about.

"When were you going to tell me that you were working with Rider's master?" He specified. His anger seeming to rise.

"First of all, I'm not yet." Rin shot. "And second of all, watch your tone. I've given you no reason to distrust me, so choose how you approach this very carefully."

"What do you mean, "yet"." the occultist asked. "Do you plan on working with her? Is this team not good enough for you now?"

"Wow, you are really going at this," Rin shook her head. "Ms. Schrodinger came to me with on offer. She said she knew where Einsbern and Blake were and was willing to help us."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" He asked. "Did you not trust me?"

Rin sighed. "I didn't tell you because I said no. She then gave me two days to change my mind."

Ben's mouth weakly made an "o" and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Rin. I ran into her in the city and she kind of suplexed my pride a bit."

Rin waved off the apology. "I get it. Just remember that I'm your ally, and even more than that, I'm your friend." She then got up into the occultist's face and poked her finger into the tip of his nose. "But, If you ever doubt me again, I'll shoot you. Got it?"

Ben nodded and sighed as the magus stepped away.

"So what are you going to do?" The man asked. "Are you going to take Schrodinger up on her offer?"

"Yes," Rin said. "For two reasons. One-"

"I'm in," Ben cut in.

"Well that was quick," Rin muttered. "I thought I'd have to convince you more."

"No," Ben laughed. "I always hated the plan. I was honestly hoping you'd throw it away sooner."

"I hated it too, but I went along with it because I knew Blake was ok," Rin replied. "But he's not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

The feel of that repulsively corrupt mana made the magus shutter. "Blake's been compromised. His mana is being corrupted by Einsbern as we speak."

"Then What are we waiting around here for?!" Ben shouted. "Is the gem ready?"

Rin nodded as she picked up the warding gem and shot mana through it. It began to glow brilliantly, but she continued. The gems definite shape was blurred out by its light, and it was at that point that the magus handed it to the occultist.

Ben looked down at the blindingly bright gem. "How do I-"

"Swallow it," Rin said bluntly.

"Swallow it?" Ben asked. "Like a pill? Rin, that's crazy!"

"If you want it to work, then swallow it!" Rin said more forcefully.

The man walked over to the sink and grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "Here's to indigestion I guess."

With that, he swallowed it down with the water. Instantly, the wards that had been carved on the gem began to glow all over his body and his skin began to sizzle.

"What's going on?" He asked in pain.

Rin sighed. "That was the other thing. In order to get Schrodinger's help, you can't come along."

"Wha-" He stammered

"It's not personal, Conners." The magus said. "I'm just following my best chance at getting Blake back. Please understand." The man's body was going limp. "In a minute, you'll be rendered unconscious and you won't wake up until the warding has successfully merged."

Ben sank to his knees. "Rin...don't…"

"I'm sorry, Conners." She whispered. "I can't afford to lose a second friend."

She hated this. She hated what she had to do to her friend. But now that he knew her plan with Schrodinger, he wouldn't have let her go alone. If he didn't let her go alone, she would have lost the Princess of Death's help. If she lost the princess's help, she wouldn't be able to save Blake.

"Rin...please…" Ben struggled out. "You don't...have...to do...this…"

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she walked out the door. "But I do."

**A/N: Sorry this one is a bit late. There were some things I had to sort out. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for reading!**

**A/N 2: I just noticed today that the website wasn't registering the breaks in my chapters and it was making it look like perspective was changing randomly in the middle of chapters. I have now fixed this issue. There are clear breaks with the name of the character that that segment is following. If you were ever confused in the past, please take a look again. Thank you!**

**-B**


	23. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy! **

**Chapter 22 - ?**

He was alone. Walking along an endless wasteland. No one would save him. Who was he? He couldn't remember. All there was was the wasteland. He had to keep walking. So he walked. He walked endlessly. For days, for weeks, for months, for years, for decades, for centuries, for millennia. He walked and walked without rest. The wastelands never ended. Who was he? Maybe it didn't matter anymore. Any life he knew must be gone by now. Forgotten in the flow of time. What was the point of living in this desolate land, day in and day out? There wasn't, but there was no way to end his misery. He had tried many times to end his miserable existence, but nothing seemed to work. What was the point of being?

The man fell to the ground. Why was he here? Where even _was_ here? He wanted out, but he knew that there was no way out. If there had been, he would have found it. For the past millennium, the moon had been getting dimmer and dimmer; causing the light in this world to fade. He knew it wouldn't be long now until the light disappeared. Maybe this world itself would fade too. He found that he was ok with that. He wanted it to end.

"So you're really giving up, huh."

The man looked up. There stood a glowing red figure who looked vaguely familiar. It was a face that he hadn't seen in a couple of millennia. Then again, it could be his own father's face and he wasn't sure that he would recognize it at this point.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"Really?" The red man asked with a similar sounding voice. "You really have to ask that?"

What was that supposed to mean?

"Cut him some slack, Red," another similar sounding voice said from behind. "He's been walking for quite a while. Nearly anyone could forget after that amount of time"

What was happening? Was he going crazy? Was this what being crazy was like?

"Oh shut up, Blue," Red growled. "The dumbass doesn't even recognize his own face. Seriously. Who forgets that?"

His own face? Did this red man look like him?

Memories flashed through the man's head. An image of him looking into a reflective wall popped into his mind. What was that wall called? A mirror? Yes. Mirror sounded correct. An image of him looking into a mirror popped into his head and the face in the mirror matched the face of Red.

"Why do you look like me?" The man asked.

The red man's face twisted in irritation. "See what I mean? Idiot doesn't even know what we are!"

A blue version of him came into view and addressed Red. "Calm down, Red." Blue said. "He's never met us before. Of course he'd be confused." Blue turned to the man and helped him up. "I'm sorry about Red, he just gets a bit agitated. I hope you can understand."

"Why do you guys look like me?" The man asked. "Am I going crazy? Is this what being crazy is like?"

"You're not going crazy," yet another voice spoke out.

The man looked around and discovered a yellow version of himself. What was happening. There were three versions of him. No wait. There were more. Purple, green, and orange versions of him also had appeared.

"We're all you," Yellow continued. "Well...at least parts of you."

"Why have you shown up _now_?" The man asked. "It's only been a couple millennia."

Orange sighed. "Because all of us hadn't existed until this point. We agreed that we would appear until all of us were present.

"When you were about to give up just now, you released the last part of you that was holding on." Purple continued.

"Yuuup," Green laughed. "Good ol' Red was grippin' on tight. You've been droppin' each of us since you've been here. The only reason ya never noticed, was because you never looked back. You always just walked forward all aimless an' shiz."

"Ok," The man tried to accept. He truly felt that he was going crazy. "You said you guys are parts of me. What parts are you?"

"Fair question," Yellow responded. "I'm your pride and confidence."

"I'm your desires and dreams." Purple smiled.

"I'm your calm and tranquility," Green hummed.

"I'm your fear and uncertainty," Orange nodded.

The man looked to Blue and Red. They had been the first ones to appear. Did that mean that they were the last pieces that he had dropped?

"I'm your rationality and logic." Blue informed.

The man looked to Red. The being wore an annoyed expression. When he saw that everyone was waiting on him, his aura brightened. "Stop staring!" He yelled. "Ugh! Fine! I'm your heart and emotions."

The man thought a moment. "Ok. So all of you are parts of me. Are there are any other parts?"

"No," Blue answered. "We're all that there is."

"So is it because I dropped you guys that I can't remember who I am?" The man inquired.

"That's highly likely." Blue responded in thought.

"So if you all come back to me, I'll remember?" The man asked.

"Most likely, yes." Blue nodded. "But therein lies another problem."

The man motioned for Blue to continue, but Blue stayed silent.

"The problem is, "are you ready to hold the burden of who you are, and stay true to that?"." Yellow said.

The man wasn't sure. He felt like there was pain waiting for him if he remembered. In a way, not knowing had been peaceful in itself. There was no responsibility. No burden. There was nothing. But did he want an empty life of nothingness? No. He had to accept his role in whatever his life held.

"I'll hold it." The man said. "I'll hold the burden of who I am, and I'll wear it proudly. I can't walk around here forever."

Yellow smiled. "Then I'll rejoin with you."

The Yellow being placed his hand on the man's shoulder and disappeared. Memories began to flash in the man's head. The first time he generated a pentacle shield. Winning a race. Times when he broke through his limits. Every moment that he was proud of appeared in his mind.

Orange walked up next. "I told you that I represent your fear and uncertainty. Are you ready to conquer me? Are you ready to move past me?"

The man nodded. "I am."

"We'll see," Orange smiled grimly as he touched the man's shoulder.

The man saw death. A blonde man being decapitated. A dark haired woman in red being run through and dying in his arms. A woman with white hair laughing at him. The world burning.

The man fell to his knees and shook. Why was there so much death? What was happening? Terror gripped at him. Why was everyone dying? He didn't recognize those people, but he knew deep down that he cared for them.

A hand landed on his shoulder and the man looked up to see Green.

"You're ok, man," Green whispered. "It's ok. I'm here. Don't worry, you can pull through. I know you can."

"There's so much death," the man shook. "Why is everyone dying?"

"None of it is real," Green smiled. "They're nothing but fears. Fears are only as real as you let them be."

The man caught his breath and stood. Green was right. He had to overcome it. He would overcome it.

"Be seeing you," Green hummed as he disappeared. Instantly, all panic left and the man turned to see who was next.

Purple walked up to him. "Your hopes and dreams. Your desires. They drive you forward and keep you going. Never forget them. They are what will get you through."

Purple touched his index finger to the man's chest and disappeared. The man saw people he didn't remember smiling and living happily. The world was bright and there was no sadness. The woman in red walked up to him and kissed him. He felt happiness.

It was Blue's turn now. The glowing figure walked up to the man. "I'm your logic and rationality. Though I have helped you through much, I have also gotten in your way. I am one of your most powerful weapons, but also one of your biggest hindrances. Are you ready to wield me wisely?"

Red rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic."

Blue smiled at the other being. "I'd like to think I'm stylish and cool. Now hush, Red."

Red rolled his eyes but remained silent and Blue turned back to the man to wait for his answer.

"I'll wield you with competence." The man smiled.

"Then farewell." Blue smiled back. With a touch, the being disappeared.

Memories of sleepless nights and games of wit flew through the man's mind. He then turned to Red.

Red sighed. "Once I rejoin with you, you'll have regained your power and your memories, but there is something I want to inform you of."

"What would that be?" The man asked. Red seemed distracted.

"Blue wasn't entirely truthful when he said we were the only parts of you." Red informed. "Though it's true that we are the only parts that reside here in your inner world at the moment, but there was another part. We called him Black."

"Black?" The man asked.

"Yes." Red answered. "If you think about it in terms of this, it might be simpler. Everyone has a light and dark part of them. In simpler terms, white and black."

"But I have a bunch of colors," The man argued. "There were six of you."

"Wait for me to finish, dumbass." Red groaned. "In terms of light, what is created when all colors of light combine?"

The man thought a moment and then remembered something from a school he thought he might have gone to. Realization dawned on his face. "White..."

Red nodded. "Good. We're not a complete idiot. Usually both White and Black reside here and maintain balance within your psyche. But when you appeared here, you took the place of white and dropped the first piece; throwing your psyche out of balance. White. Or you, became weaker than black, allowing black to break free to your outer consciousness. As for what caused you to come here, I'm not certain."

"Wait, So we're currently in my inner world?" The man asked.

"Yes," Red confirmed.

The man slumped forward. Why was his inner world so bleak and desolate. All it consisted of was wasteland and dry earth.

Red laughed for the first time. "Don't worry about how it looks now." The being reassured. "When we join back together it will return to its original state."

The man sighed and nodded, but something bagged at him. "You said that Black moved to my outer consciousness, right?"

Red nodded.

"Does that mean he has control of my body?" The man asked.

"Yes, Black is currently in control of your body on the outside." Red confirmed. "Don't worry, it's only been a couple of days out there, but in order for you to regain control, you need to pull him back here and force him to submit."

"How do I do that?" The man asked. "I don't know if I'm strong enough."

Red smiled, "Then don't pull him back until you are."

The man looked up in confusion.

"Time in here runs nearly 8.8 million times faster than it does in the outside world." Red explained. "In simpler terms, an hour out there equals a millennium in here. That means you could train for a millennium and only lose an hour. That'll give you plenty of time to become stronger and allow you to be more than capable of beating him."

The man stared at Red in awe. He could train for that long and barely lose any time? That was incredible.

"I think it's time we joined back together, White." Red interrupted mid-thought.

The being walked up to the man and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready to remember the feelings in your heart?" He asked. "Though your desires drive you forward, it's your feelings that win the day. Are you ready to fight the battle within yourself? Are you ready to accept the woman you love? Are you ready to face the woman that you loved in the past? Are you prepared to sacrifice your life?"

The man nodded. He wasn't afraid anymore. He would face whatever came his way.

"Then welcome back...Blake Ryan." Red said as he touched his shoulder. Before the being could disappear he leaned in and whispered in Blake's ear. "One last thing. Rin Tohsaka isn't dead. I urge you to believe this fact."

With that, the being disappeared.

Blake instantly began to glow and memories began to flash in his head. Memories of his family. Memories of his childhood. Memories of his friends. Memories of Ben. And memories of her. Of Rin. Everything came back.

The Holy Grail War forced itself to the forefront of his mind. The servants. The magic. The magi. Sage. Einsbern and her breaking of him. Rin...

The homunculus's words rang in his head.

"_Rin Tohsaka is dead."_

Rin was dead? No. Wait.

"_Rin Tohsaka isn't dead, I urge you to believe this fact."_

No. Rin wasn't dead. Einsbern has only said that to break him. Damn her. He swore he was going to kill her when he got out of his inner world. He would get strong. He would become powerful. He would defeat Black. He would defeat Einsbern. He would destroy the grail. He would return to Rin. And finally, he would face down the Mages' Association.

The diviner concentrated and a tarot deck materialized in his hand. Training began now. He would train for a millennium and defeat everyone. That was his promise.

**A/N: Sorry for the random break in chapter production! I forgot I was going on a vacation with my family this past weekend and didn't mention it in my previous author's note. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I should be returning to my regular schedule from here on out. I'll need to if I want to finish this story in time. Thank you for reading!**

**-B **


	24. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 23 - RIN**

**23:50**

"You know that I can't let you go, right?" Lancer's voice echoed as he materialized in front of her. "Master's orders."

Rin didn't hesitate. She didn't have time to argue. Ben had been passed out the whole day, but he would soon wake up. On top of that, Schrodinger was expecting her in ten minutes. She couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip through her fingers. The magus held up her hand without breaking stride.

"Then by order of my command seal, disregard the order telling you to stop me and help me instead." Rin commanded confidently.

Lancer smiled. "It's about damn time you decided." He sighed. "I was starting to think you weren't serious."

"H-Huh?" Rin stammered as she came to a stop. She was confused. "You wanted me to do that?"

The servant laughed. "Of course I did. My master's plan was fine if you guys viewed him as expendable. In truth, you didn't need to use a command seal. His command wore off as soon as he severed our pact, but I wanted to be sure that you were dedicated to saving him. Otherwise, we would have just waited like he wanted."

"You made me waste a command seal on a test?!" Rin shouted. "Do you know how valuable these are?!"

"Yes," Lancer responded with no apparent guilt. "That's why I required you to use one if you were to go after him. It showed me your dedication to my master. Well… former master. Now I'll follow you anywhere. You have my full trust and support, Master Rin."

Rin huffed. She didn't have time for this. It annoyed her that Lancer deemed a test like that as necessary, but she guessed that it made sense.

"Fine," she muttered. "Let's get going."

**00:00**

"I'll be honest, Frau Tohsaka," Schrodinger said as Rin and Lancer arrived at the rendezvous point. "I didn't think you'd come, but I'm certainly glad that you did."

"I wasn't planning on it, but the situation changed." Rin replied. "Blake's mana is being corrupted. There's no time to wait around."

"And you know this...how exactly?" Schrodinger asked.

Rin sighed. "Blake is my apprentice. I'm sure you're familiar with the bond that comes with that?"

Schrodinger's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?" She snickered. "The famous Tohsaka family is taking in the "public menace"? Don't you have a reputation to uphold?"

"I could say the same for The Princess of Death." Rin shot back. "The Schrodinger Family is highly influential in mage society. What would the association think of the heir to that bloodline saving...what did you refer to him as? Oh right. "The public menace"."

"It's not an unknown fact that the Schrodinger family supports diviners." Schrodinger brushed off. "The Tohsaka family, however, made its point of staying neutral during the tarot assassinations, did they not? Are you saying that you're taking a side now?"

She was, but they didn't have the time to discuss the topic. It was time to be a magus. Words her father had spoken to her, nearly fifteen years ago, echoed back.

"_Remember, Rin. When dealing with other magi, never show your emotions. You must stand above them as an immovable force. If you show emotion, they are certain to take advantage of that."_

"Are we here to chat about politics, or are we going to save my apprentice?" Rin said with a plain emotionless face. She wouldn't let other magus drag this out anymore.

Schrodinger sighed. "You're no fun." She pouted. When Rin didn't say anything in response, the woman rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll show you where. Just follow me."

"_Master Rin," _Lancer's voice echoed in Rin's mind. "_Are you sure we can trust her?"_

The Tohsaka head followed the Princess of Death at a slight distance.

"_Of course I don't."_ Rin sent back bluntly. "_But if she can at least get us close to Blake, I have no choice but to work with her."_

Schrodinger looked back to see the distance Rin was keeping and laughed.

"Wow," the brown haired woman gasped in feigned awe. "You really do not trust me. I know I said you shouldn't, but you just look paranoid at this point."

Rin ignored her and the death magus sighed; her face softening a bit. "Look, Tohsaka, I get it. You don't like me. Trust me, the feeling is mutual, but I truly don't wish you or your apprentice any harm. If you were willing to stick your neck out to take him on as your apprentice, then I know I can trust you in this. I know I said not to trust me, but we can't work together like that. So I'll amend my statement. Just this once, please trust me. It's vital that the diviner is saved and protected."

Rin looked at the death magus; clearly taken aback. The woman had just performed a one-eighty flip. The gem magus didn't know how to react, so she came back in the only way she knew how.

"Well of course I'll trust you this once." Rin huffed. "Blake's on the line. There's nothing I wouldn't do to get him back."

"That's both reassuring and concerning." Schrodinger sighed. "Tell me this, Tohsaka. What happens if we can't get to him? If we can't get to him in time and he becomes too big of a threat, what are you willing to do?"

"We'll make it time." Rin said without looking away. "There's still traces of his white mana left. I can feel it."

"Rin…" Schrodinger began hesitantly. Had she just called her by her first name? That was a first. "I received a report of a massacre that happened last night."

Rin didn't like where this was going. "What are you saying?" She asked cautiously.

"One hundred people were murdered, with most of them having there cause of death be lethal lacerations." Schrodinger explained. "From the depth and lengths of the wounds, it was deduced that a sword was used to kill those people. What's worse is that they were all members of the Mages' Association."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with Blake?" Rin asked. She was trying to maintain her cool, but the prospect of someone killing one hundred association members scared her. "There's no way that he's powerful enough to take down one hundred mages from the Association."

"Normally, I'd be inclined to believe you," The death princess sighed. "But my familiars scanned the scene. Would you like to know what they found?"

Rin's eyes went wide. She didn't want Schrodinger to tell her. She didn't want to know. She pleaded with the world to stop the words from coming, but unfortunately, the world was lacking in mercy on that particular day

"They found that the place was almost completely drenched in diviner mana." Schrodinger continued. "It was as if a diviner was sending out a challenge to the entire Mages' Association."

"And you think it was Blake?" Rin whispered. Then anger took her over. This woman was accusing him. "Blake would never do that." The gem magus shouted. "Blake's a kind person! Sure he can be a bit much at times, but he'd never murder a hundred people in cold blood!"

Schrodinger held up her hand in a calming motion. "Easy there, Tohsaka." The death magus said. "You said his mana is being corrupted, correct?"

Rin took a deep breath and nodded.

"Well here's the thing, and I'm sure you're aware of this, but let's resort to basics." Schrodinger started. "You remember that mana is broken up into two separate types, right?"

Rin nodded again. "Of course." She responded. "Negative and positive mana. A mage must maintain a proper balance of the two. The balance is shifted slightly whenever a different element is used, but each of those deviations are very small."

"Very good," Schrodinger praised. "I guess the Tohsaka's aren't a bunch of slouches after all." The woman refocused herself. "But yes, this concept applies to all magi, but it's even more crucial for diviner's. Since the mana they posses is of higher quality and quantity than the average holder mage, it is absolutely necessary to keep a strict balance. The amount of positive mana that resides inside of a diviner is of no consequence. The only point it could cause any harm in is if there is too little; while too much could simply cause a lack of efficiency. But as for the negative mana, the story is different. If too much negative mana resides within a diviner's body it can have a very negative impact on the user's mind. Occasionally, too much negative mana causes a personality split that goes right down the middle of someone's balance. Good becomes separated from evil and a new persona is formed."

Rin thought she understood. "So you're saying that Einsbern has been pumping negative mana into him in order to cause this personality split?"

Schrodinger nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying." She confirmed. "That would explain the corruption you felt, and it would explain why Blake would kill one hundred mages. I did my research and at one point or another, each of those mages disagreed with Einsbern and opposed a various number of her propositions. This would be a highly strategic plan on her part. She could wipe out anyone who would dare argue against her and let the diviner take the fall."

Rin sighed in relief. "So what you're saying is that it isn't actually Blake that murdered them?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all." Schrodinger said as she shook her head." Rin's heart sank. "No matter how dark, that potential for evil has always resides within him. Yes, it may be the most raw form of that evil, but it was still always within him."

Rin's face dropped. Was Blake really that kind of man? One who could kill hundreds of people if his whim so dictated it? Had she been wrong to take him as her apprentice?

The gem mage heard a sigh come from in front of her. "Don't think on it too hard." Schrodinger said gently. "I only tell you this so that you can accept his faults. Right now, you only want to see the good in him without the struggle. This is commendable, but no one is purely good, and no one is purely evil. We all have our demons that we have to fight. I'm sure that you have your own. But, as unintentional as it may be, your current way of thinking is insulting to his battle."

Rin looked up with wide eyes. Then her eyes fell in shame. She had began to turn her back on Blake so easily. She wasn't worthy of being his master. She wasn't worthy of being anyone's master.

"You say he's a good person, correct?" Schrodinger asked the disheartened magus.

Rin nodded and smiled wistfully. "Yeah, he's incredible."

"Then don't you think it's even more respectable that he has been able to overcome his own evil, up until this point?" Schrodinger inquired. "I know I certainly do."

Schrodinger was right. He was worthy of more respect than Rin could even imagine. Finally, the magus was able to master herself. She'd make sure that Blake could return to winning his battle with himself. She would accept all of him. His light and his darkness.

The gem magus's resolve returned to her and she looked to Schrodinger again.

"You're right," she smiled at the death mage. "He deserves my respect. So let's get going so I can give it to him."

Schrodinger smiled as she turned. "Ohh, such a bold statement from such a prim and proper girl." The death magus teased.

Rin's face went red. "You know what I mean!" She defended. "My respect! I'm going to give him my respect!"

Schrodinger laughed as they walked.

"Hey" Rin called softly to her new companion.

"What is it, Tohsaka?" The other magus asked.

"Thank you for helping me, Schrodinger." Rin said.

Schrodinger smiled. "Of course." She paused for a moment and then opened her mouth again. "And please. Call me Sarah."

**A/N: New resolve is discovered. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**-B**


	25. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Chapter 24- RIN**

After getting past the bounded field and Einsbern's familiars, Rin and Sarah closed in on the Einsbern mansion. Einsberns sure loved mansions in forests on the outskirts of cities. The magus recalled a similar mansion on the outskirts of Fuyuki.

Rin hates wasting so much time being delicate in their infiltration, but knew why they were. Einsbern hadn't succeed in fully corrupting Blake yet, but it wouldn't be long now. A flash of her blowing a hole through his head with a gandr shot plagued her mind, but she quickly shook it off. No. It wouldn't come to that. She would rescue her precious apprentice and everything would be okay.

It took them the better part of two hours to get the mansion. The two woman stood on the edge of the clearing and observed for a moment. It was very odd. There weren't any familiars forming a perimeter around the house. That was very unlike Einsbern. The homunculus has basically blanketed the forest with a small army of the annoying bird-like creatures. Why weren't there any around the house?

Suddenly, the front door of the house swung open and the white haired woman whom Rin hated most, came skipping out. The homunculus has a rather joyful and carefree smile on her face. The smile made Rin want to throttle the white-haired bitch, but the magus just sat back and watched.

Einsbern looked around and took a deep breath in. Then the woman began to hum as she skipped off into the forest in the opposite direction.

Sarah tensed up next to Rin as the death magus watched the She-devil go. "I'll go ambush Einsbern while you go get your friend." Sarah whispered.

"Sarah!" Rin called out in a whisper. "Wait!"

Before Rin could say anything more, the death mage went running in the direction of Einsbern and disappeared into foliage. Rin sighed. So much for doing this together. The woman shrugged it off. She could see Sarah's logic. If the death princess could keep the homunculus busy, Rin could enter and get Blake out with hopefully no issues. Yet, the thought of leaving Sarah alone to fight Einsbern rubbed the magus the wrong way.

"Master." Lancer spoke in Rin's head. "We should get going. We shouldn't keep Blake waiting."

Rin nodded and began to sneak towards the mansion. It was really strange. Why hadn't Einsbern left any familiars? Rin shook the thought. She had to get Blake out of there. He had been in there long enough. Any longer, and what Sarah was trying to do might be in vain. She couldn't let the opportunity pass her up.

The magus made her way into the mansion. The front door was a large oak slab that was very light for what it looked like. When Rin entered the property she sent out a sensory pulse in order to locate Blake's magic. The pulse bounced off of every wall in the entire house and came back to the magus. He was definitely here. Her pulse had picked up his corrupted mana in one of the rooms. She had also sensed a large number of traps all around as well.

Rin moved quickly towards the room that Blake was in, making certain not to trip any of the traps. The magus now understood why there were no familiars outside. Anyone besides a select few mages could navigate this house without being killed. It was as if Einsbern had created a labyrinth in anticipation of someone invading.

Rin turned the final corner and entered the room that Blake's magic pulse had come from. There she found the diviner tied to a chair with his chin slumped to his chest. Rin checked the room for traps. That was odd. There seemed to be no traps in the room. That was her first red flag. Satisfied that the room was clear, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him; cradling his head as he moaned in pain. It didn't seem like his darkness was in control at the moment. Rin wanted to throttle Einsbern even more now.

"It's ok, sleepy head." Rin whispered. "We're gonna get you out of here."

The magus began to untie him. His wrists were rubbed raw from the bindings and his lips were chapped from dehydration. On top of that, he looked terribly pale and thin. It had only been a few days and Einsbern had done this to him already?

"..mad at me..." he mumbled.

Rin shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at you." She chuckled. "I was actually worried. And the only reason I admit that is because you probably won't remember me saying it."

He was really out of it. She wondered if he even recognized her. Einsbern had probably put him through hell. She wondered if his darkness only came out when Einsbern was around.

"...kill Tohsaka." He mumbled.

Rin's spine went cold. Red flag number two. She brushed it off though. Maybe he thought that Einsbern was trying to kill her, but he had never called her Tohsaka. He always called her Rin. The magus shook her head again as she finished untying him. "No, she didn't kill me." She tried to smile.

Once she had finally gotten him untied, she threw his arm around her shoulder and attempted to drag him, but soon realized that she'd need to reinforce herself. Even in his weakened state, the man was heavy.

As they approached the exit to the room, Blake began to shake violently. What was going on? Was he seizing? Was he bound to this room somehow? Rin looked down in worry and what she saw sent another chill down her spine. She hastily let go of him and jumped back as a sword impaled the ground where she had been only a moment before.

The magus looked up to see Blake laughing. Not his sincere laugh that she had grown to enjoy, but a wickedly twisted one. He cackled and shrieked as he held out a card. Rin's heart sank. She had been too late. Red flag number three.

"Ace of Swords return." Blake cackled. The sword seemed to get sucked back into the card and The diviner put it back in his deck. "Mistress will be mad at me." Blake said manically. "Must kill Tohsaka." His gaze fixed on Rin and he smiled a smile that was never supposed to belong on Blake Ryan's face. "Must please my mistress." Then he began to laugh that horrifying laugh. "Berserker! Come and play!"

Rin's eyes widened as Berserker exploded through the wall to her left. The flaming she-demon let out an earth shattering roar. This wasn't good. The magus has assumed that Berserker left with her master. That had been a grave miscalculation.

Rin turned back to Blake. Now she saw them. Command seals decorated Blake's hand as if they had never left. Wait. Had Einsbern given him control of Berserker? What was Einsbern's play? Then it hit her.

Einsbern was mirroring the fight between master and servant. Just as Lancer was fighting the one he loved, Einsbern was making Rin fight the one that she cared for. This was Einsbern's twisted way of playing with their emotions. The homunculus has been expecting them to infiltrate all along. They had played right into her hands.

"Berserker." Blake laughed. "Kill her. Erase her non-existence. Nothing is real. There is only our mistress."

The expressions that twisted on Blake's face made Rin want to cry. Those weren't the faces she had come to admire. These were the faces of a madman. Someone too far gone to save. Someone who was willing to kill anyone and everyone. This Blake had no remorse.

"Lancer, we need a strategy." Rin transferred. "I think you should take Blake, and I should take Luna."

"You do realize that that's stupid, right?" Lancer responded. "You would be pressed to fight a regular servant, let alone a high-class demonic one."

"I'll keep her at a distance. I have the "absolute zero" gem prepared. Please believe in me Lancer. I can do this. And besides, if you defeat Blake, Berserker will lose."

There was silence for a moment. Then, "Fine. Just don't die."

"Try not to kill him." She responded. "I want him alive."

"Hey Berserker!" Rin shouted. "I'm running this way!" The magus waved her hands as she ran out of the room this was going to be troublesome.

Berserker immediately tore after her and Blake attempted to follow, but Lancer materialized in the doorway; blocking the diviner's path, making him jump back.

"Ah! Lancer!" Blake cackled. "Wonderful to see you! Now I can kill you too! The part of me that used to believe in heroes! How utterly pathetic."

"As a wise man once said. "I'm about to make you my bitch, master." Lancer said. That began his assault on his former master.

**Down the hall**

Rin was running as fast as she could with the enhancement magic she was sending through her legs, but Berserker was gaining on her fast. She could only make one "absolute zero" gem, so she only had one shot at this. She had to find the right opportunity and position to use it.

The mage quickly skidded around a corner and Berserker slammed into the wall, but continued after the magus as if the slight blunder hadn't occurred. The servant was hell bent on killing her. She needed to find the proper place to make a stand.

Rin had made into the main foyer when a transparent sword made of magic pierced through her leg. The magus fell down the stairs headfirst and tumbled hard. If it weren't for the strengthening magic she had deployed, she most likely would have been dead. Regardless of her luck, her leg was shot. Running wasn't an option anymore. Not only that, but the terrain was not ideal for her plan.

As Rin struggled to get to her feet. Her heart sank. In the entrance stood none other than Einsbern herself. The homunculus gave a condescending smile and swept her hair over her shoulder.

"It seems you discovered my new toy." Einsbern giggled. "But I'm not too keen on sharing." The girl snapped her fingers. "Caster. Be a doll please."

Rin suddenly felt herself unable to move. Had Einsbern said Caster? How was that possible? Lancer had killed Caster. She shouldn't be alive. Yet, low and behold, Caster herself materialized next to Einsbern.

There was no way! How was Caster alive?!

This was bad. Rin found herself in a room with three of the most dangerous woman in the war. She couldn't move. She couldn't cry for help. She should have just waited like she had planned. This was it. She was going to die.

**Ben**

Ben's eyes shot open. What had happened? Why was he on the floor? Why did his body hurt? He tried to move. His body was really in pain. He felt as if his body had been broken down and built back together. What had caused it…

The gem! Wait...he swallowed the gem, and then...what happened? He ran into the Princess of Death. The priss had made it clear she didn't like him. She then left after she told him that Rin had…

Rin!

She was going to meet with Schrodinger! She was going after Blake! He had to stop her! She couldn't handle this by herself. Master Mage or not, she was only one master. Berserker was too powerful for her to handle alone.

"_Fuddle," _Ben called with his mind. "_Where are you? We need to go after Rin!"_

"_Already on it boss!" _The gnome's voice returned. "_I followed her after you passed out. She's headed towards this spooky mansion in the woods."_

Spooky mansion? Shit. She was almost at Einsbern's mansion. He didn't have any time to waste. He had meet up with her. She was beyond stopping at this point.

"_Transmit the location to me," _Ben ordered. "_I'll meet you there. We'll provide assistance to her."_

Ben grabbed his knives and some spare gems, and ran out the door. He had a feeling that the war wouldn't last much longer. In fact, it would most likely end that night. This would be a decisive battle.

**Later**

The forest leading up to the Einsbern mansion was thick, and low branches whipped at Ben's face as he closed in on the property. The moon had risen high into the sky, and tiny rays of light broke through the thick canopy.

When Ben reached the property line, he stopped and observed. Bird shaped familiars flew along the line in a scattered formation. The man tossed a pebble towards them and they instantly disintegrated it. Rin had to of been skilled to get past these things.

Ben thought a moment, and then an idea came to him. He pulled out his talisman and began to concentrate. He focused on calling spirits to disrupt the familiars, and slowly but surely, it worked.

Spirits rose from the ground in all of their transparent glory and began to crowd around the familiars. The glowing birds began to fritz out when the concentration of spirits grew too dense; creating an opening.

Ben ran past the line of familiars, and allowed the spirits to leave, which they did so eagerly. The occultist finally made it to the edge of the clearing, and watched the front of the property for a moment.

A small explosion erupted from the woods; forcing Ben to flinch. What the hell had that been? Not soon after, Einsbern danced into view, trailed by...Caster?! No. That couldn't be. Lancer killed her! How was she back? Rin and Suingi were in big trouble. He had to get in there.

Ben moved to observe where he had heard the explosion come from and found a woman, lying in a miniature crater, with broken glasses. Blood poured from multiple lacerations on her body and she seemed to be lying eerily still. That wasn't good. Einsbern had just taken out Rider's master. She had single handedly killed the Princess of Death.

As much as Ben hadn't appreciated the woman's slights at him, he hadn't wanted this for her. He balled his hands into fists. If only he had summoned Jeroldo. That servant would have been able to heal her and save her life.

Ben turned towards the mansion once more. The master was dead, so he had to move forward. He no longer had any time to waste. His friends needed him.

Ben ran headlong into the mansion.

**A/N: All the players have arrived and the climactic battle has begun. Will the heroes privale, or will they fall on their faces. Thank you for reading and find out next time!**

**-B**


	26. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 25- Lancer**

Lancer observed his former master. There was no concern in those crazed brown eyes. The man held no tension in his shoulders whatsoever. This concerned Lancer. His master usually carried himself in a very tensed manner, always drawing his shoulders back in a proud fashion. But whoever this was, was different. They carried themself loosely and without a care in the world. This man did not fear or respect Lancer in the slightest. In fact, his posture basically said, "come and get me, but it will cost you".

Lancer tried to even his breathing, but something was incredibly off about this man. Aside from the obvious, he practically swirled in a whirlwind of deadly intent. Blake had never even released a fraction of that kind of aura. Negative mana was practically overflowing from the diviner that stood before him.

"What's wrong, Suingi?" Blake laughed. "You look like you're having a hard time getting a read on me." The diviner gave a loud cackle. "Don't worry, my dear servant. I understand performance anxiety. I guess I'll have to start in order to stimulate you into action."

The man pulled a card from a holster at his waist and the card began to glow. Lancer had to snap out of it. If he didn't this _thing_ was going to drag his master's name through the mud. He couldn't stand for that.

"Suit Series: Ace of Wands!" Blake called. A dull black wand with red veins appeared in the man's hand. Lancer stiffened. Blake had never used wand cards before.

Black lightning shot from the wand as the diviner pointed it at his former servant. Lancer finally reacted; moving out of the way and dashing at his former master. Immediately, he slammed into a shield with a pentacle on it. The shield wasn't the glowing white it had been before. It was a pitch black with the pentacle design being red. What was happening? Was this the corruption that Master Rin had been talking about?

"Suit Series: Son of Swords!" The corrupted Blake cackled as he swung a black and red blade at Lancer. Lancer narrowly dodged the slash and rolled away.

He had to get his mind right. If he kept fighting in this distracted state, Blake was going to kill him. He didn't want that to be on his master's conscience when he returned to his right mind. Lancer had to focus.

The servant dashed at the laughing man.

**Blake**

"It's time, isn't it, White?" Red's voice echoed in Blake's head.

The man sighed. Even after Red had disappeared, his voice still had remained to keep the man company. It hadn't been all bad. If Blake hadn't had Red's voice in his head during his millennium of training, he would have surely lost himself again. But Red's voice, and his resolve to see Rin again, kept him going.

The diviner had discovered quite a few things about his magic that he hadn't been aware of before. The reason why he had kept running out of mana during his training with Rin was because he had been treating the cards in his deck like her gems. Whenever he drew a card he had been passing mana into each one individually before he used it. That was a wrong and wasteful approach to their use. The cards themselves were already humming with mana. All he had to do was put some of his own mana into the deck itself to activate it. The mana then would bounce through the cards and charge itself. Not only did that process save mana, but it allowed for a quicker card activation.

The next thing he had learned was the tarot's biggest strength and yet it's most crucial fall back. Before, he had always been hesitant to use the Higher Arcana cards, but he hadn't been able to place why. When he used _Temperance_ to save Rin, he had begun to understand; if only a little bit. Through his chat with Sage, he had discovered that they shaved years off of his life.

Now, through meditation with his deck, he had learned his lifespan and how many years he had left to spend before he faded away. He originally had had seventy-three years remaining. After using _Temperance_, that number had decreased to fifty-nine; this decrease was equal to the Higher Arcana number on the card.

He had also discovered that aside from one card, he could use the Higher Arcana cards freely in his inner world. Since they weren't being used to manipulate the physical plane, they had no damaging effects on his life.

"Yeah," Blake acknowledged. "It's time."

That brought Blake to the one card that would affect his lifespan in this world. The Higher Arcana card known as _The World_. It was the most powerful and potent card in the entire deck, and it was the only way to force a battle with Black that he could win.

Blake sighed. Use of that card would reduce his remaining life-span to thirty-eight. That meant that he would die at the swell age of fifty-eight if he didn't use any more Higher Arcana cards.

"Are you sure about this?" Red asked. "We could search for a way that doesn't involve shaving years off of our life."

Blake chuckled. "If there was another way, we would have found it by now. It's been a thousand years, Red. Trust me, it's the only way."

"You do know that you'll disrupt the flow of time in here when you use it, right?" Red inquired.

"Yeah," The diviner sighed. "Time will slow down in here to match the outer world. So I'll have to defeat Black quickly to prevent him from doing too much damage."

"So you know that even when you bring him here, Black will still be in control of your physical body?" Red asked further.

"Yup. I have to defeat him in order to take back control." Blake responded.

"Alright," Red chuckled. "Then do it. Let's go see Rin."

"Like you needed to tell me." Blake smirked.

The diviner held out his hand in front of him and a card materialized parallel to his outstretched palm. The world around him began to glow with white energy and his body grew hot with the glow of mana.

"Oh great and powerful Higher Arcana," he chanted. "Hear my call and obey my will. Bring forth balance to this land within me. Call forth my demons. Cast away this veil that I have been bound by. And grant me the power of your greatest servant. I hereby call out your name and beg for your assistance. Come forth...Higher Arcana: THE WORLD!"

The inner world that Blake had come to know so well, began to crack. The moon faded out and fell from the sky. Then everything shattered, forcing Blake to close his eyes.

When he opened them again, he found himself on a black and white platform decorated with symbol for light and darkness. Good and evil. Yin and yang.

Blake stood in the black circle on the white side, and another figure stood in the white circle on the black side. The figure looked up and smiled a sadistic smile; a smile that Blake never thought could belong on his face.

"So you're alive after all, White." Black cackled. "I was certain that I had overtaken you, but I guess not."

"I had some things to think over," Blake waved off. "So I let you play villain for a bit." Blake drew his _Ace of Swords_ and the following white blade appeared in his hand. "But you've had your fun." The white diviner pointed the sword at his evil counterpart. "It's about time I took my body back."

Black howled with laughter. "You think you can take me down?" A black and red ace sword appeared in the his hand. "Mistress has been filling our body with negative mana. I'm thousands of times stronger now! There's no way that you'll ever defeat me! You. Are we-"

Black's eyes went wide as Blake disappeared from sight and a small cut opened on his cheek. The black diviner turned his head to see the white diviner with his back to him. Blake flicked the couple of drops of blood off of his sword and faced Black.

"You talk too much," The white diviner said; deadly intent filling his eyes. "That was a freebie." Blake leveled his sword with Black again. "Next time you try and talk my ear off again, I'll make sure that it's yours throat that I cut."

Anger twisted on Black's face and he ran at the white diviner. Their swords met and the evil diviner growled.

The battle had begun.

**Lancer**

His former master was running low on cards; Lancer had been keeping track. The evil diviner's attacks had become fewer and far between as he approached his limit. If the servant had counted correctly, the evil Blake should only have four cards left. If his opponent ran out of cards, he could win.

Lancer looked down at his own condition. He wasn't doing well. Several deep laceration covered his body, and his clothes had been singed by his former master's flame wands. The strength of a tarot mage was truly terrifying. If Lancer hadn't had his Noble Phantasm, he would have been dead several times over. In fact, he could only use his _Absolute Cancel_ one last time. The remainder of this battle would be a battle of attrition. If Lancer used his _Absolute Cancel_ before Blake ran out of cards it would be over.

"You're not looking too good Suingi?" Blake taunted. "You need a rest? I'll be happy to give you an eternal one! Face Series: Father of Cups!"

A gigantic black chalice appeared over Lancer's head with its brim facing down. The man intended to trap him! Lancer sluggishly rolled out of the way as the chalice slammed down, narrowly avoiding it. When he stood back up he let out a sigh of relief. That left only three more cards.

Evil Blake let out his disgusting cackle again. "You might want to focus more, Lancer! Dodging is fine, but that won't save you!"

Lancer's eyes went wide as he felt something wrap around his leg. He looked over to see that the chalice that the diviner had summoned had turned into black liquid and was now pinning his feet to the ground. This wasn't good. He had been careless to assume that the face cards were the same as the regular suit cards.

"Face series: Father of Swords!" The evil diviner called. Shadows began to condense into a single point until a blade of pure darkness and hatred appeared. "Time to erase you Suingi! Mistress will be pleased with me!"

The evil man dashed at the servant. Lancer only had one chance to block the attack without using his Absolute Cancel, but he'd have to sacrifice his weapon. Dodging was no longer an option, since the black goop had solidified on his legs. That could work to his advantage though. That meant he had a stable point to defend from.

The diviner swung his blade at Lancer with all the force in his body. With a loud boom, Lancer caught the blow in the middle of his spear and twisted his body to deflect some of the force. It was enough, but barely. The deflection had been enough to deflect a lethal blow away from the servant's body, but it hadn't been enough to save his spear. The polearm was shattered down the middle, leaving him with two shorter pieces.

Lancer let mana flow over the back-end of his spear and used it to break away the black that bound his legs. A raging Blake growled from behind him and he turned just in time to catch the evil man's downward swing in the cross of his two spear pieces.

"You know, you're starting to become an annoyance, Suingi!" The evil diviner growled. "You were supposed to use your _Absolute Cancel_!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have used such a one dimensional attack." Lancer shot back as he forced his opponent's blade to slam into the ground. The servant then delivered a spinning kick to the man's side. Ribs cracked underneath the force of the kick, and the recipient of the blow flew through the air.

"Face Series: Father of Pentacles!" The diviner gasped out.

A giant black pentacle appeared appeared behind the man and caught him as if it were a spider web. Then the pentacle flipped upward and the diviner stood up to use it as a platform. Blood was dripping from his mouth and he was wheezing.

"That hurt, goddamnit!" Evil Blake laughed. "Holy shit, that hurt! You pack a serious punch, you fucking piece of shit!"

Lancer prepared himself to jump to the platform, but suddenly realized that he couldn't. Was it a spell? No. His body was just so worn out that he couldn't move well any more. That last kick had taken up nearly the rest of his energy. Shit.

"Well now you're going to pay for damaging mistress's property!" Blake yelled. "Face Series: Father of Wands!"

Lancer smiled. He had him.

A black and red wand appeared in the diviner's hand and he began to swirl it around in a circle. Lancer held out his hand. Flame and wind runes began to appear in the circle with a darkness rune in the middle. Mana poured into the magic circle and an enormous blast of black fire exploded forth towards the servant.

"Tarot art: Flame of Engulfing Darkness!" Evil Blake called out.

"Noble Phantasm!" Lancer called forth. "Absolute Cancel!"

The black flames slammed into Lancer's hands, but went no further. Blackness and heat surrounded him, but none touched him. Death moved all around, but could not reach him. That was the power of Absolute Cancel.

When the flames cleared, Lancer watched as Blake's pentacle platform dissipated. The diviner fell to the floor below with a crash, but immediately began to struggle to his feet. The servant limped over to his former master and held the sharp half of his broken spear in the man's face.

"It's over, Blake." Lancer said without emotion. "You've lost."

Blake looked up at Lancer with scared and confused eyes. "Lancer?"

Something was off. The evil Blake wasn't acting like the maniac he had been earlier. Was this his Blake?

"Blake?" Lancer asked cautiously. "Is that you?"

"Lancer? What's going on?" The confused man asked. "Where are we? Why are you all bloody?"

The servant's spear-tip fell as shock took him. Was Blake really back? Had using all of his cards made him revert. Hope gripped at the spearman's heart.

Big mistake.

The sound of metal piercing flesh rang out through the room and Lancer looked down to see the blade of a sword sticking out from his chest. Blood began to flood his airways and the taste of iron filled his mouth. He was in shock. The servan coughed out the the red liquid. His body began to turn into blue light.

Blake began to laugh hysterically as Lancer fell to his knees.

"God you're so gullible!" The evil diviner laughed. "All I had to do was _that_ all along?! Man! Mistress is going to be pissed when she finds out that I had to waste so many cards."

How had the diviner stabbed him with a sword? Lancer was sure he had counted correctly. The man shouldn't have had any more cards.

The servant's eyes went wide. Blake had absorbed the _Ace of Swords_ back into his card before the fight. Lancer had completely looked past that. He failed to observe correctly, and had been easily tricked. Shame washed over the spearman.

"Well, there are still some of my cards I can absorb back," Blake sighed. The man walked by Lancer and twisted the sword that was in the servant's back and pulled it out. "Once you disappear, I'll go and slaughter that pathetic Tohsaka girl and her occultist buddy." The man laughed some more. "I can't wait to tell white what I've done! I'm sure he'll give up the fight once I tell him that I killed his girlfriend! Heroes are so damn pathetic."

Lancer fell forward and could only listen as Blake absorbed some of the items he had used, back into his cards. Finally the man came back around and patted Lancer on the head.

"Be a good boy now and die the pathetic death you deserve." The man taunted one last time. He then began to walk away.

Lancer held out his hand and despaired to see that it was fading away. He still had to stop him. Master Rin needed him to. He couldn't have failed. He was a hero. He was supposed to save his master. Why was this happening? Why…?

Lancer faded away into blue light.

**A/N: I'm actually pretty proud of how this turned out. I have to say, I suck at writing fight scenes, but I think this one didn't turn out half bad. Let me know what you think in the review section. Thank you for reading! The next chapter should be released here tomorrow. **

**-B**


	27. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 26 - Blake**

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out through the empty space. Black slashed in a downward arc and White knocked the blow to the side so he could launch a horizontal counter strike. Black let himself fall back as the shining blade passed through the air above him. The evil man then threw himself into a bridge position, and attempted to kick up at White's face. White jumped back to evade as Black's kick flipped it's owner back onto his feet.

The two diviner's stared each other down. Neither of them had been able to deal a single blow to the other combatant the entire fight. They were both equal in strength, speed, and technique. That only left endurance as the deciding factor.

Blake was still going strong. His millennium of training had granted him an incredible amount of endurance, but his evil counterpart, on the other hand, wasn't looking so hot. Sweat drenched the evil diviner's clothing and his blade was dipping lower than it should have been.

Blake wondered why Black hadn't used any other cards since their fight began. If the evil him was having such a hard time, then it would have been optimal to change tactics, right? The answer struck him. It was his evil self's pride that stopped him from pulling more cards. Black wanted to crush the white diviner on equal terms and establish himself as the superior version.

Suddenly, Black began to cackle with laughter. The hysteria echoed throughout the platform.

"What's so funny?" Blake asked in annoyance. He really hated that this _thing _in front of him was a part of him.

Black gave a wide twisted smile. "Oh you know, your face. It's quite ugly."

Blake rolled his eyes and moved to dash at his evil counterpart, but Black held up his hand, making Blake pause.

Black laughed again. "You should also know that I just disposed of your precious Lancer servant."

Blake's eyes went wide. That wasn't possible. There was no way that Black could defeat Lancer. Lancer was an epic level hero with nearly god-level speed. How could the evil diviner ever compare to something like that? On top of that, Lancer's spear could mortally wound evil beings. All the cards would have been stacked in Lancer's favor. What the evil man was saying just couldn't be true, could it?

"You're lying," Blake growled. That's right. This was the evilest parts of him. If this being couldn't beat him physically, then he would have to beat him with mind games.

"Am I?" Black laughed. "I just don't know."

The white diviner didn't want to believe it. Lancer? Dead? It couldn't be. Yet, somewhere in the diviner's heart, he could feel it. He could feel that his former servant was dead. The servant who had calmed him at the train station. The servant who had had his back. The servant who had come from his own creation, yet had become his friend. He was dead. He was gone. And this man in front of him killed him.

Blake exploded towards the evil diviner with murderous intent. He would destroy this vile piece of himself. He wouldn't let the black diviner hurt anyone else that he cared about.

Black sighed and held out a card; forcing the white diviner's sword to slam into a black pentacle.

"Suit Series: Ace of Pentacles." Black called out.

Upon impact, Blake was flung back as if all the force from his strike had been reflected back on to him. The man crashed to the ground and slid several meter away from his opponent. His body hurt.

"So emotional," Black shook his head in dismay. "It seems we're more alike than I thought."

Blake struggled to one knee, using his sword to help him. He glared at the evil him. "We're nothing alike!" He spat. "I'd never kill Lancer!"

"But wouldn't you?" Black asked.

Blake returned to his feet and began to run at Black again. The evil him was really starting to piss him off. The diviner didn't want hear his opponent's voice anymore.

"Suit Series: Ten of Swords." Black commanded with a sigh.

Black swords pierced the ground around Blake at obscure angles, pinning him to where he was standing. Blake gritted his teeth. He couldn't reach his deck.

"I'm so glad I can use these against you now." Black gave a sigh of relief. "Tell me, dearest White." he continued as he approached the pinned man. "If someone were to threaten Tohsaka's life, what would you do?"

Blake remained silent. He wouldn't give the evil diviner the satisfaction of an answer. He had to figure out how to release himself.

"Don't respond if you like." Black cackled. "I already know the answer." Black drew his finger across his throat. "You'd kill the threat without hesitation. That's why you went to mistress in the first place, correct? So you could kill those who would dare harm Tohsaka? How does that make us different? I only desire to protect my mistress and you only desire to protect the Tohsaka girl. Face it. We are the same."

"Except Tohsaka doesn't view me as a tool for her own personal use and gain." Blake shot back. "That's all you are to Einsbern! A tool to be used and then thrown away!"

"If that's what I am to my mistress, then so be it." Black sneared. "It's better than being locked up all the time, unable to be accepted by your own self."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked. "You're evil, of course I can't accept you."

Blake closed his eyes and began to concentrate mana to his right hand. This world could give form to his tarot cards. If he couldn't reach his deck, then he'd just call a card to his hand.

"It may be true that I'm evil," Black nodded in agreement. "But that just means that part of _you _is evil as well. I am _you_ after all. Everyone has good and evil within them, but instead of facing your evil, and accepting that it's there, you just ignore it." The black diviner spread his arms into the air. "I am the result of that ignorance." He lowered his arms and leveled his blade over the back of Blake's neck. "That's why I'll take everything that you love! That's why I killed Lancer, and that's why I'll kill Ben and Rin as well! This is what happens when you ignore your problems, Blake! They come back to haunt you!"

Black began to cackle again as he held up his sword to chop off Blake's head.

Blake's eyes snapped open as a card materialized in his hand.

"Face Series: Son of Pentacles!" Blake called out.

A large white pentacle expanded around the white diviner, dispersing all of the black swords that had stopped his movements. He then swung his sword up to meet Black's, sending metallic clang throughout the area.

Rage was in Blake's eyes. "Don't you dare lay a finger on Rin!" He yelled at Black.

He we was going to destroy every trace of the evil diviner. He wouldn't allow his darkness to hurt the people he loved. He would stop Black at any cost.

"That's the spirit!" Black laughed as he observed the passion in Blake's eyes. "Let your anger consume you! Show me how alike we truly are!"

**Ben**

As Ben ran through the front door and into the foyer of the mansion, what he saw made him freeze. The situation did not look good. In fact, it looked disastrous.

Rin appeared to be struggling on the floor as Berserker stood on the stairs behind her. Einsbern and Caster stood in front of the magus looking down at her. Caster had her hand out and seemed to be the cause for Rin's struggling. The gem magus was completely surrounded. Ben drew his knife.

Einsbern, who had begun to turn at the sound of the door opening, finally laid eyes on Ben. The homunculus smiled. The smile didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes held no joy within them, just a look of boredom and possibly even annoyance.

"Nice of you to join us, Ben." The girl laughed. She then turned her back to him, clearly viewing him as a waste of her time. "Caster." She said with a dismissive flick of her hand.

Ben tried to take a step forward towards Einsbern, but couldn't as Caster's staff began to glow more brightly. He was frozen in place. He couldn't even blink or talk. The damned sorcerous had stopped the time around his body completely.

"_Ben_," Fuddle's voice rang out in his head. "_I'll take care of of this one._"

Fuddle materialized into physical form and charged at Caster. The sorceress barely managed to get out of the way as the gnome's sword cut the air in front of her, and was forced to break her spell on the mages in order to evade properly. Rin sprang to her feet and Ben rolled to the side as a sword-shaped familiar pierced where he had just been standing.

Einsbern's face took on a look of mild annoyance, but it quickly returned to one of amusement. She didn't think she had anything to worry about, Ben wanted to prove her wrong. He was going to wipe that look of superiority off of her smug face.

"This has been an unforeseen turn of events." Einsbern giggled. Then her eyes widened and her amusement seemed to grow. "But now I see that this could be much more fun!" The girl turned to the stairs. "Welcome back, my pet."

All eyes turned to see Blake come out from the shadows of the upstairs hallway and walk out onto the balcony above them. The man wore a sadistic smile and had a card already prepared in his hand. This wasn't good. That meant that Rin had failed to get to him in time.

Benlooked around the battlefield. Where was Lancer? Why hadn't he come to help out his new master? The odds were not in their favor. It was three against four. The situation was no-

Einsbern twirled around on her heels and patted Ben on the head as she passed. "I leave this fight to you, my pets. I'm going to go get some fresh air." she hummed as she strolled away.

Ben stood dumbstruck for a moment, then threw a gem at the girl as she walked across the threshold. Immediately, a barrier slammed down over the exit and blocked the explosive gem from touching the homunculus. Ben grimaced in irritation. Damn that woman. At least it was three against three now. He just didn't trust that Einsbern would stay out of the fight for long.

The occultist turned to face the soon to be battlefield. Fuddle had to take on Caster since he was the only one immune to her magic. Rin would take on Blake since their magic types were so similar. That only left Berserker for Ben to fight. Shit. How could he fight a monster like Berserker? A mage couldn't possibly match up to a servant. Especially one on the same level as a demon. He would have to use the possession spell. That was his only hope. If he could succeed in merging with a spirit then he'd at least be able to survive for a bit until a plan was devised.

The world around Ben slowed as he closed his eyes and concentrated on calling a powerful spirit to him. It didn't matter if it was good or evil, as long as it was powerful. He called and called, sifting through thousands of spirits to find one he could use. He searched in the ground. He searched in the air. He searched everywhere. Finally an answer came.

"_Ben_?" a familiar voice called in the occultist's mind. "_How did you call me here? I thought I died_."

"_Suingi_?!" Ben asked in shock. "_You died?_ _How_?!"

"_Blake's corrupted self caught me by surprise. I was a fool._" Lancer said with shame in his voice.

Ben didn't have time to make fun of Suingi for that one. They had no time at all. If Ben couldn't get the dead servant's cooperation, then he would die.

"_Do you want another chance?_" Ben asked.

"_I do, but how?_" Suingi inquired. "_I'm dead. There are no second chances for the fallen._"

"_Wrong_." Ben argued. "_There is a way. Merge with me using my possession spell and lend me your power. I'll have to fight Luna. I know you said you wanted to get through to her, but we're past that point now. If we don't defeat her, all of this will be for nothing. I need at least the power of a Demi-Servant. If I can't get your help, Rin and I will most likely die."_

"_You're right._" Suingi sighed. "_The time for getting through to her is finished. Let's do this."_

A ball of blue light appeared in Ben's mind and entered the man's body. The occultist's body began to glow with blue light as green plated armor appeared on him. Suingi's Demon Spear appeared in his hands in all of its sinister glory and his body leaned out to reveal rippling muscles. The man's blonde hair faded to white and grew slightly.. Power seemed to surge through his body at an alarming rate and exploded forth; amplifying his presence.

The man knew the perfect name for his new form."Perfect Possession:" Ben called as he opened his eyes. "Lance Soul."

**A/N: Ben's new spell takes effect. Will he be able to defeat Berserker? Find out… later today, because I was lazy and didn't post a chapter yesterday. So I will be posting two today...maybe...we'll see. Life happens, ya know? Anyways, thanks for reading, and the story will continue soon.**

**-B**


	28. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 27- Rin**

The odds had definitely tipped back in Rin's favor. Or, at the very least, weren't so heavy in her opponents' favor. The magus observed the battlefield. Ben and Saber had shown up; effectively tying up Caster. And, for whatever reason, Einsbern had decided to step out of the fight; leaving her servants to do all of the work. This now left the sides, more or less, even. Ben had used his possession spell and had seemingly merged with Lancer. Ben would have to be careful not to let the overwhelming power of a heroic spirit take him. Then again, if Lancer was the possessing spirit, maybe he had nothing to worry about..

With Lancer's power, Ben should be powerful enough to take on Berserker, but Rin had to get him the "absolute zero" gem. No matter how powerful the servant, the gem was the only viable way that they had to defeat Berserker, but Rin didn't know how she would get the gem to her companion. On top of that, even though Saber should have been impervious to Caster's magic, it seemed that he was still having a hard time.

The magus looked the battlefield over more and observed her opponents. If she tried to make a break for Ben and Saber, Berserker would most likely hit her in the back and kill her. Things didn't look optimal for her. Berserker was too powerf- That's when the idea struck. It wasn't necessarily a well thought out idea, but it was all she had, and she would do it to the best of her ability.

Rin took a deep breath, pulled another gem from her pouch, and did what no one was expecting. She dashed at Berserker. The servant pulled its fist back for a punch, but Rin was ready. The gem magus pulsed mana into the gem she had pulled and threw up her most powerful gem shield. With the shield now up, she allowed Berserker's blow to slam into the shield and send her flying towards her companion.

The magus assessed that she was still in one piece as she flew through the air. "Ben!" She called as she stretched out her arm and held out the "absolute zero" gem. Realization crossed the occultist's face and he jumped through the air; grabbing the gem from her as she flipped back onto her feet behind him. She breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone much smoother than she had been expecting. Now it was time for phase two.

Ben continued forwards towards Berserker and Rin threw a gem at a dumbstruck Caster. The servant stopped the gem in the air and allowed it to explode away from her, but this allowed Saber to use the opportunity to take cover in the smoke and get a swing at the sorceress.

Rin looked up to the balcony. Now that Berserker and Caster were busy, Rin could go after Blake to get him back. The diviner was standing at the top of the stairs watching the battle with observant eyes. A wicked smile crosses his face as his eyes met Rin's, and with a wink he turned to walk down the hallway he had just come out of.

Rin scowled and began to run after the man while enhancing her legs. He wouldn't get away from her that easily. The magus ran past a grapple between Ben and Berserker, and started up the stairs. By the time she reached the top, Blake had already disappeared down the hallway. A thought then occurred to her. What if the diviner was luring her away on purpose? The thought left her mind immediately when Berserker exploded down in front of her; blocking her path to the hallway. The servant roared at her and was about to swing, but before the servant could even finish her roar, Ben tackled her over the balcony. This allowed Rin the opportunity to go after the diviner.

The gem magus silently thanked Ben in her head and began to take off down the hall.

She would get Blake back. She had to.

**Ben**

Shockwaves shook the house as Ben and Berserker clashed. Though she was slower than Ben, Berserker seemed to always know where he was going to come from, and would parry him accordingly. There seemed to be no sanity in her eyes, but her strikes were precise and deadly. Not only that, but the heat was starting to get to Ben. Her hellfire made the air near her almost unbearable. The demi-servant was finding it harder and harder to breathe the longer the fight went.

Fuddle was still working at getting through caster's mana blasts. The sorceress was barely giving the gnome any room to breath. Though her time magic didn't work on the servant, her blasts certainly did. Fuddle had found that out the hard way, when he took a blast straight on. Since then, the little gnome hadn't been moving at the same speed he normally did.

Ben looked back to his opponent. He couldn't afford to get distracted. He had to figure out a strategy to get an opening for him to use the gem in his hand. Rin had taken a big risk getting it to him. He couldn't waste the opportunity.

"_Use an after image._" Suingi said in Ben's head.

Ben deflected a knife swing from his flaming opponent as she dashed at him. "_How do I do that?_" The man moved back to size up Berserker. He couldn't get close enough to plant the gem on her without her taking his head off. If he threw the gem, he had a feeling it wouldn't hit her. She would most likely just knock it away and the chance to beat her would be wasted. He had to get the gem on her and let her heat activate it.

"Run at her as fast as you possibly can." Suingi began to explain. "Then, retrace just as quickly to the point you started, and run a different route. If you go fast enough, that should create an after image."

Ben took a deep breath. He had this. He could do this. Suingi made it look easy. This would be a piece of cake. The man dashed at the opposing servant with a boom. Everything seemed to slow down around him as he moved. He felt as if he had all the time in the world to achieve what he needed to do. One of Caster's mana blast slowed to a stop and he had to take moment to admire the scene. As he reached Berserker, Ben attempted to stop to go back to his original position, but his feet began to slip out from underneath him. Time seemed to speed back up to normal, and Ben crashed to the ground with a loud impact.

Berserker and Ben stared at each other for a moment of awkward silence. Then Berserker roared and attempted to punch Ben into the ground. Ben hurriedly sprung up and distanced himself once more. That had been close. Too close. He'd have to try again.

Ben heard laughing in his head. "_What was that?!_" Suingi laughed. "_You can't stop flat on your feet going that fast! You have to turn sideways and lean slightly on your back leg_."

Ben grumbled in embarrassment for a moment. How was he supposed to know something like that? The demi-servant sighed and then dashed at Berserker once again. The world slowed once more as Ben approached his opponent. But this time, the occultist concentrated and slid to an effective stop, went back to his position, and ran around the back of his opponent.

As Ben attempted to place the gem on the servant, he noticed her dagger coming at him at almost normal speed. The man's eyes widened as he held the demon spear up to block. The shear force of the blow knocked the spear from his hands. He was forced to pull his knife to block the second blow, which made him skid back some distance.

Time returned to normal and the man looked down at his hand. His knife was melting at the hilt now and his spear was out of reach. Berserker had read through his after image. He was beginning to get the impression that no matter how many times he used an after-image, it wouldn't work. How could he defeat Berserker if the techniques of the servant possessing him didn't work? That's when the idea struck him. This was Luna. Suing's wife. Someone who had fought alongside this very spirit, countless times. Of course she would know all of his moves! Because they were Suingi's moves! There was no one, save Suingi, who knew those moves better. So he couldn't fight like Suingi and think like Suingi. He had to fight like Ben and think like Ben.

The occultist looked down at his hands. In one hand was his still melting knife and in his other, was the "absolute zero" gem. An idea sparked. Ben placed the gem in the melting hilt and allowed the two items to merge.

The knife instantly solidified and formed around the gem. He had a plan now. The man bounced lightly on the balls of his feet and boomed towards Berserker for the third time. If his plan didn't work, he was dead. This time, he didn't take Suingi's advice on the stopping, and let himself slip to the ground. But, instead of trying to stop himself from sliding along the ground, he let it his body carry the momentum of his initial dash and slid on his back across the floor.

Ben slid past Luna's knife slash as it came down towards him and stabbed the newly merged knife into her fist as she attempted to slam it down on his exposed body.

Berserker cried out in pain and rage as Ben slid through her legs. The man sprang back to his feet and faced the servant. The servant turned to face the man with intense fury. The air around her began to steam as she increased the heat of her flames. The knife slowly began to melt in her arm and Ben smiled.

Berserker took a step forward in an attempt to charge, but it was at that exact moment that an explosion went off in her arm. Air suddenly rushed towards her like a vacuum as all the heat in the air seemed to be sucked away. Ice began to creep along the floor and moved up onto the stairs and statues. Everything in the room froze over with Berserker right at the center of "absolute zero".

Ben let out an enormous sigh of relief as he sank to the ground. Fuddle finally dodged a blast and reached Caster. The servant kicked the sorcerous into the wall with tremendous force and knocked her unconscious. He too sank to the ground in exhaustion. Ben's eyes met Fuddle's and the two laughed in deliriousness. They had won. They had defeated two of the heaviest hitters on Einsbern's side. Wait. Einsbern...

That's when Ben saw it. A sword-shaped familiar shoot towards Fuddle in a bullet-straight line. Ben tapped into his temporary speed one last time, and dove to intercept the blade. Right as the occultist got between the projectile and Fuddle, the possession wore off and the blade slammed through his chest.

The man looked down to see the sword familiar dissipate in a mist of red. Blood began to drip from his mouth and fits of coughing took him. Fuddle caught the wounded man and looked down at him with sad eyes.

"Why would you do that for me?" the gnome asked. "I'm just a servant."

It was true. Fuddle had been a servant. If Ben had let the gnome take the hit, Ben himself would have survived. But Ben would have had to live with the guilt that he had let his friend die. This way, both of them would parish, but Ben wouldn't have to see his servant die in pain. This was the way he wanted to go.

Ben smiled at the gnome. "You were never just a servant to me."

Fuddle began to cry, but his face was becoming transparent as he faded into blue light. Ben didn't want the gnome to be sad. This had been the occultist's choice. Ben fell to the ground as Fuddle completely vanished, and his head rolled towards the entrance. Black surrounded his vision, and the last thing he saw was Einsbern's mocking smile. He hoped that Rin could get Blake back so that the two them could wipe that smile off of her face.

Everything went dark.

**Blake**

The white diviner was overpowering Black. Crushing blow after crushing blow slammed down on the evil diviner's sword as he attempted to block Blake's savage offensive. With each blow the evil counterpart sank lower and lower to the floor, until his knee finally slammed down. Another punishing blow came down and shattered the evil man's sword. Black rolled to the side to avoid the next strike.

"Suit series: Two of Swords!" the black diviner called as he drew a card. Two black and red swords materialized into his hands just in time to block a powerful horizontal slash.

The attack sent Black flying, but Blake wasn't done. Black had pissed him off. He had threatened everything that Blake cared about, and the diviner could not stand for it. He would utterly crush the evil within himself and save the people he loved. That was his promise with each swing of his sword.

"Oh Higher Arcana!" Black began to chant as a card appeared in front of him. He dodged Blake's strike. "Grant me the speed of the gods!" the card began to glow and he dodged another strike. "Higher Arcana: The Chariot!"

Black began to blur out of focus as he ran in a circle around Blake. The white diviner tried to keep track of his foe, but Black's new found speed made it impossible. So instead, Blake drew a card. If he couldn't see with eyes, he'd just have to see with his mind.

"Oh Higher Arcana," Blake chanted as heclosed his eyes. "Hear me and obey." The card began to glow. "Grant me the senses of the gods. Higher Arcana: The High Priestess!"

Though his eyes were still close, he could see him now. Well...maybe not see, but feel. He could feel every change in direction, every alteration of breath, and every intent. He could see each attack nearly a second before it came.

From the right. Blake threw his guard up to his right and caught a blow that had been aimed at his neck. The pressure of the attack disappeared as Black sped off again. From behind. Blake ducked down as his enemy's blade whizzed through the air above him. Opening to the left. The white diviner slashed the air to his left and made solid contact with flesh. He felt it as his evil counterpart crashed to the ground in a cry of pain. He opened his eyes.

In front of him, Black laid on the white half of the circular platform with blood spilling out from a gash in his side. The evil man was shivering. He must have been cold from the blood-loss. Good. Yet, something felt off. As Blake got closer, he realized that Black wasn't shivering at all.

He was laughing.

"Well that was certainly unexpected, White." the evil diviner cackled through fits of coughing. "You sure got me good! But you're too late."

Too late? What did he mean too late. Blake was winning. Unless…

"What do you mean?" the diviner growled.

Black smirked. "Just this once, I'll show you what's going on on the outside. I think it's something that you should see."

A rectangle appeared in the empty space that almost reminded Blake of a screen at a movie theater. An image of a large dining hall popped onto the screen. It looked like one that you'd see in a large mansion that billionaires lived in. The view of the image was pointed towards the entrance to the room. Muffled footsteps soon became audible and continued to get louder until the doors to the room seemed to slowly open of their own accord.

As the doors fully opened, they revealed a slight figure walking in slowly, but confidently. The woman had dark hair, and bright turquoise eyes. Her hair was down and she wore maroon shirt that buttoned down all the way to her waistline. Power surged off of the woman like Blake had never seen before, yet he couldn't help the feeling of his heart sinking.

Black was laughing harder now, and only stopped to catch his breath.

"It doesn't matter if you defeat me!" Black laughed. "As long as I survive long enough to kill her, I win!"

Blake's eyes were wide as looked at the screen. The woman his evil self was facing out there, was none other than Rin Tohsaka herself.

**A/N: We're quickly approaching the end. I will say, this is my favorite portion of the story. Everything is hectic. Everything is moving and changing. It's great, and love it. The action is high. Thank you for reading, and I hope that you continue to do so.**

**-B**


	29. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 28- Rin**

Rin ran down the hall as fast as she could. She had to catch up to Blake, but she didn't quite know what she was going to do once she did. The man had clearly taken out Lancer, since he had shown himself and Lancer was now being used in Ben's possession spell. That meant that this twisted version of the diviner that Einsbern had created, was as powerful as a servant. Rin had fought her fair share of servants, but never alone, and never against one that wore the face of the man she cared about.

The woman checked her bond with Blake as she moved and was surprised to find that the white mana had begun to reduce the black and red mana. What was going on? Was Blake resisting what Einsbern had done to him? If his mana was in that state of turmoil, then she needed to hurry. She would try and give him the last push that he needed to regain himself. If Blake was fighting on the inside, she'd fight on the outside.

The magus soon came up on a set of double doors. She could sense Blake's mana signature behind them and slowed her pace to a walk. She still wasn't sure what she'd do when she went in. What should she say? The doors slowly began to open on their own.

It was too late to think things through. The woman sighed and rolled up her sleeves to reveal her magic crest on her forearm and began to generate mana throughout her body. She had to be ready for anything. She had fifteen gems in her pouch, but she wasn't sure how effective they'd be against Blake's tarot magic. Her enhancement magic would be the best suited for a fight with him if it came down to it.

As the room opened up to her, she saw that it was a dining hall of sorts. The size of the room dwarfed the size of the dining area in the Tohsaka manner, but it was still distinguishable. She couldn't understand the need for a room of this size. A long table ran down the middle of the room with with a large chair at the head. In that chair, sat Blake himself.

"I see the faker made it here alright," Blake laughed with that twisted face of his. The man stood up and motioned all around. "How do you like the venue? I hope it's not too much."

Rin kept walking towards him. That wasn't Blake's face. Blake would never make a face like that. Blake would never kill Lancer. This man wasn't who Blake was. If this was a part of Blake, then it most certainly wasn't the core of who he was. She would bring back her Blake.

"What? You're not going to say anything?" The diviner leered. "I came all the way here so that you could have a nice place to die! Aren't you thankful?"

Rin was getting closer. She had no words. She couldn't think straight. She was so angry that she could scream. Einsbern had turned her precious apprentice into this thing. The damned homunculus had brought out Blake's most evil parts to manipulate for her own use. Rin couldn't forgive it. She'd fight until there wasn't any red mana left. She enhanced her right arm.

"What's wrong, faker?" Blake laughed. "You look upset. What are you going to do? Cry? For a Grail War survivor, you're very sensitive." Rin was right in front of him now and he looked down to give her a perverse smile. "Don't worry, I can make you feel all better. Come no-"

Rin's fist slammed into the side of Blake's face and sent him flying into the back wall. The force of the impact echoed throughout the room, until silence settled over everything.

**Blake**

Black stared at the screen with a look of shock on his face that made Blake want to laugh. In all honesty, the white diviner hadn't been expecting Rin to punch him with that kind of force either, but it was well worth it to see Black's face like it was.

"What the hell was that?!" Black yelled. "She was supposed to freeze up when she saw you! She was supposed to leave herself vulnerable! What is she? Is she insane?"

Blake laughed more. "You may have forgotten this, but that woman is Rin Tohsaka."

"What's your point?!" Black shot back. "I thought she had feelings for us?! I was going to use that against her!"

"One word, my friend." The white diviner smiled. "Tsundere."

Black's eyes widened in realization. "Shit." He cursed. "Well back to plan A."

Nine black and red swords materialized in the air and shot towards Blake with blinding speed.

**Rin**

The punch had felt cathartic beyond belief. She had had some pent up aggression against Blake, and this had been the perfect excuse to get it out. Serves him right for going to Sage. Rin gave a sigh as the man across from her struggled back to his feet. Anger plastered his face.

"You...bitch…" he spat. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Blake blitzed towards the magus with two black and red swords, and murderous intent. Rin, however, was ready for that response. She couldn't kill him, but she could definitely break a few bones and leave a few scars.

"Kalt!" She shouted as she threw a sapphire at his feet. On impact, the ground froze over and he fell forward. "Heiß!" She shouted as she threw a ruby. The gem exploded into the man and sent him flying back again, making him drop his swords.

The diviner regained his footing and moved to draw another card, but Rin was already on him. The magus struck the man in his solar plexus to knock the wind out of him, and then went to drive her knee into his face as he went to bend over for air. Her blow was stopped short by a black pentacle and her eyes went wide. A counter was coming.

"Oh Higher Arcana!" Blake wheezed. Rin tried to jump back, but there were two more Pentacles blocking her way. "Grant me the strength of the gods." A card in his hand began to glow. "Higher Arcana: Strength!"

Black slammed his fist into the woman's stomach and she felt some of her ribs crack as the blow blasted her through one of the Pentacles. As Rin flew through the air, she heard him chanting another incantation.

"Oh Higher Arcana! Grant me the speed of the the gods!" he called out. "Higher Arcana: The Chariot!"

Before Rin could hit the ground, the evil diviner appeared behind her in a blur, and slammed his fist into her back. A loud crack sounded out throughout the room. The magus couldn't even scream, since she had no air left in her lungs, but she knew that he had just broken her back. The woman spun through air and slammed back-first into the wall she had hit him into earlier.

Rin fell off of the wall, landed on her knees, and then fell forward; face down. She couldn't feel her legs and the rest of her body wasn't responding. The taste of iron began to invade her taste-buds and she began to cough up blood. Breathing was getting hard. At least one rib had punctured her lungs, if not more. Her vision was getting blurry. She was dying. The only thing she could do was watch as Black walked towards her with black sword in hand.

**Blake**

Anger overtook him again. He couldn't waste any more time. Rin was dying. She needed his help. If Black got to her before the white diviner could kill him, then she would die for sure. He had to save her! He couldn't let her die!

Blake roared in rage as he exploded towards Black with the strength card in hand. The card activated instantly, though he wasn't sure if he had called out the incantation. He was too blind in his fury to remember. The only thing in his mind was Black's death.

Black activated the strength card as well and threw up a pentacle shield to block the attack. Blake reversed his weapon in his hand, jumped into the air, and brought the point down. Sword met pentacle with a booming explosion, but the black shield was holding. The white diviner was running out of time. He pushed harder. Cracks began to form in the shield. He looked over at the screen. The image of Rin was getting closer and closer. He pushed harder. A hand reached out in the screen and threw Rin against the wall. The magus slumped over. The hand grabbed her hair and lifted her head up so that her face was visible.

There was no fear in her eyes, there was only sadness. Blake screamed as he tried to push the sword through the shield. More cracks formed. Laughing came from the screen.

"What happened, Tohsaka?!" The voice cackled. "I thought you were going to get me back? Looks like you're just going to die like the bitch you are!"

Tears streamed down Blake's face. He couldn't let Black kill her! He had to try harder. Black was laughing underneath him as he attempted to get his sword through. Blake was screaming with effort, only a little further.

"I did get you back, idiot," Rin whispered with a small smile. "You're here, right? And you are a part of him."

Blake's eyes went wide. What was she saying? Black continued to laugh underneath him.

"That's cute," Black mocked. "She thinks she can get through to me!"

Blake put all of his strength into breaking the shield. The pentacle on the shield was barely visible with all of the cracks now, but it still held. Just a little bit more.

Rin smiled. "I except you completely." She whispered. "Blake is Blake after all. You're my precious apprentice and I'll always be there for you."

Black's face twisted in confusion. The shield began to give.

"What's wrong?" Rin laughed gently. "What's with that face. Weren't you going to kill me?"

Black began to hold his head. Tears were starting to form. The shield gave out a bit more. Blake kept pushing down. Tears were in his eyes too.

"I know I should!" The voice shouted in a confused manner. "It would please my mistress!"

"Then what's your hesitation?" Rin asked.

"For some reason, it feels wrong!" The voice cried. "But I don't know why!"

Black was holding his head and screaming now. Tears were pouring from his eyes. Blake pushed harder. Sweat was covering him and tears streamed from his face.

Rin smiled and reached out. "It's ok, Blake." She said with tears in her eyes. "It's ok. No matter what you do. No matter what happens. Just know-"

Blake screamed out as he attempted his final push. The shield shattered and his sword went down.

"-that I will always believe in you." Rin finished.

The sound of blade piercing into flesh sounded out.

**Out**

Blake opened his eyes and the sight he saw tore his heart in two. He now held a black and red blade in his hand, and the blade was now stuck in Rin's chest. Panic took him and tears poured more freely than before.

"Rin?" He gasped. Her breathing was shaky and she was shivering. "No! Rin! Come on! Stay with me!"

The magus's eyes cracked open. "You're back," she whispered with a smile. "Thank goodness."

"Rin! I'm so sorry!" Blake cried. "I'll fix this! Don't worry! I'll heal you!"

The man searched desperately through his cards. He had to find something. Anything. There had to be a card that could heal her. There just had to be. Tarot magic was supposed to be the most versatile in the world! There had to be something! There just hadn't to be. He looked and looked as his desperation grew.

"Hang in there, Rin," he tried to comfort. "I'll find something. Please, just stay with me. I'll find som-"

He felt a weak hand on his arm.

"It's ok, Blake," Rin smiled. "Could you lean down here for me? There's something I need to tell you, but I don't know if you'll be able to hear me from that far away."

Blake wanted to argue, but when he looked into her fading eyes, he saw desperation that made him stop and listen. He set the cards down and leaned in closer.

"What is it?" He whispered. His face barely an inch from hers.

Tears ran down her face. "I wanted to tell you this later, but I don't think I have the strength to anymore, so I'll do this instead."

"What do you mea-" Blake began.

He was cut off by her lips pressing into his. Shock took him for a moment, but then he kissed her back, the kiss said absolutely nothing, but yet it seemed to say everything. It held everything that was left in the woman he loved.

The kiss said, "_I will love you always._"

Rin's lips fell away as she went limp in his arms; her final breath had been in her kiss with the man she loved.

Blake cried out in sorrow.

**A/N: That's right people! That just happened! I just killed off Rin Tohsaka! I regret nothing! *Cries as everyone stops reading because they were only here for some Rin action*. But in all seriousness, as emotional as this chapter got, it was probably one of my favorite chapters to write. Blake trying desperately to get back so he can stop himself from killing Rin. It was great, and it was a blast to write. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading!**

**-B**


	30. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 29- Blake**

Blake stared down at Rin's lifeless body. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Rin Tohsaka couldn't die. She was the powerful head-magus of the Tohsaka House. She wasn't supposed to die. Especially not by the hands of someone as weak and useless as him. She couldn't die. She was too strong. She was his master.

The tears wouldn't stop. "I failed." Blake whispered as he stared wide-eyed at the dead girl in his arms. "I was too late."

The diviner began to shake violently. He had failed. He was too late. He had failed. He was too late. He had failed. He was too late. Failed. Failed. Failed. Failed! Failed! **HE FAILED! **The man dropped her body and kicked himself back. Panic took him as he began to sob uncontrollably. His entire body shook as everything came crashing down on had this happened? Why did it have to be her?! Why did she have to be the one to die?!

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" He screamed to the heavens. "A thousand years! I trained a thousand years to save her!" He covered his face with his hands and began to rock back and forth in utter disarray. "And I was too late?! I failed...? How could I have failed?! Why did I fail?! WHY?!"

He couldn't take it. He had killed her. He had shoved the sword that killed her through her chest. Evil side or not, it had been a part of him that had done the deed. He was the one who did it. He was a murderer. He was the one who killed the woman he loved. He was worthless. He was trash. How could he ever hope to see a world where everyone smiled freely if he couldn't even save what mattered most from _himself_. He looked over to see the black sword next to Rin's body. He had longed to do what came to mind so many times, in that world, that he had lost count. Maybe it was finally time. There was no point to living anymore. Lancer was dead. Rin was dead. Ben and Fuddle were most likely dead. What was the point in living anymore? There wasn't any. He'd end his miserable life and be done with it.

Blake crawled over to the blade. He didn't have the strength to walk. Damn it. He couldn't even kill himself without looking like a complete loser. The blade was still coated in blood. In her...in Rin's blood... From when he shoved it through her heart...Blake's eyes moved back to Rin's lifeless body and his stomach twisted and wrenched. He could feel everything coming up. Nothing would be spared. The man quickly leaned away from Rin's body and violently vomited onto the floor. Everything from his stomach left him until nothing but dry heaves remained.

When it all finally stopped, he turned back and picked up the sword. He would join her. There was no point anymore. The diviner placed the sword over his chest. He would be with her soon. He wouldn't live in this world without his Master. Without the woman he loved. Without Rin Tohsaka. If not for her, the world wasn't worth living in. He didn't want live an empty life.

Before he could plunge the sword into his chest, a soft tingle came over his lips and words echoed from the depths of his mind.

"_I will always believe in you._" the words echoed. "_I will love you always."_

Blakes eyes went wide. Those had been Rin's words to him. His hands shook as he gripped the blade of the sword. He wanted to end it so badly that it hurt. He didn't want to hurt, but he had to fulfill Rin's mission. He was most likely the last survivor of the group. He had to destroy the Holy Grail. An image of a white haired girl popped into his mind when he thought about the grail. No. He didn't have _just_ the grail to destroy. He would have to destroy Einsbern too. Not only did he have to, he _wanted_ to. He hated Einsbern. She had turned Black against him and forced him to kill Rin. He would avenge Rin and everyone else who suffered by Einsbern's hand.

The shaking in his hands stopped and the diviner released the blade from his grasp. He kicked the cursed weapon away and shakely brought himself to his feet. Everyone's hopes and dreams were on him now. He couldn't insult his friends' memories like that. He would keep fighting until his dying breath. That was his promise. To himself and to everyone who had helped him get to this point.

The diviner walked over slowly to Rin's body and closed her empty eyes.

"I'll destroy it." He whispered. "I promise."

**Foyer**

The air got colder as Blake made his way down the hallway. He could clearly see his breath in the air, and ice had begun to coat the walls. Soon, he felt almost as if he had entered an ice cave, with the world around him being nothing but icy imitations of what they formerly were.

A light soon began to show at the other end of the hallway and Blake walked through into it and out on what he thought used to be a balcony. Was this really Einsbern's mansion? Who was she? The ice queen? The man walked over to the frozen railings and looked down into what probably was a foyer. The scene that met him astonished him. Like the hallway, the entire room had been turned into a frozen tundra. The remains of what used to be Berserker stood frozen in the middle of the room like a demonic ice sculpture and two bodies resided downstairs as well.

Blake went down the stairs to see who the two bodies belonged to. His eyes widened in shock. The two bodies were that of Ben and Caster. If Caster was still in physical form, that meant that she was still alive. Blake didn't know how she was alive, but the fact that she was, began to spark an idea within his mind. He hastily ran over to Ben who still showed signs of breathing. The occultist's chest rose and fell in deep slumber. He was just passed out. A wound in the man's chest had basically frozen over due to the cold. Blake found it a miracle that his friend was still breathing.

"Ben!" Blake called as he patted the blonde man's face. "Hey buddy, wake up!" The occultist's eyes cracked open a bit and then closed again. "Hey! Come on man! Stay awake!"

Ben's eyes came open. "Blake?" He asked in a daze. "Is that you? Where's Rin?"

Blake's face fell. "She's not here right now." He whispered. It technically wasn't a lie.

"I see," Ben nodded weakly. His breathing was shallow. He didn't have long left.

"Who did this to you?" The diviner asked.

"Einsbern," The occultist coughed. "She aimed for Fuddle. I couldn't let her kill him."

The idea was starting to nag at Blake. It was so close to forcing its way to the front of his mind, but he couldn't place it. It had something to do with Caster. The fact that Caster was alive had given him hope. Why had that been? She was the enemy.

"I guess I'm running out of time." Ben sighed.

Yeah. He was running out of time...Running out of time...out of time...time…

Time!

That was it! The idea fully formed in Blake's mind. There was a card in his deck that could change everything. He'd have to lose some life, but it was a worthy price to pay for what he'd get back.

"Ben," Blake smiled. "I figured it out!"

"What?" Ben asked in a daze. He was getting colder.

"I figured out how to fix all of this!" The diviner said excitedly. "I'll use Caster's power to rewind time!"

"How?" Ben asked.

"There's a certain card in my deck that allows me to use the powers of magic users," Blake explained.

"Isn't it too risky to mess with time?" Ben asked. "What if it only makes things worse? Besides, Caster only rewound about ten seconds when we fought her, what makes you think we could go back further?"

Blake's face went serious. "Absolutely nothing, but I have to try. Worst case, it fails and I'm in the situation I'm in now. I don't have much more to lose, Ben."

Ben took in his friends serious face. "She's dead, isn't she?"

Blake's eyes went wide and he turned his head away from the occultist. He didn't want to think about it. He'd save her. She wasn't dead. She could still be saved.

Ben, however, got his answer from Blake's silence and nodded. "Do it," He whispered. He was getting weaker by the second. "But can you do me a favor if you go back far enough?"

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"Tell me to summon Jeraldo instead of Fuddle," Ben requested. "He'll have healing magic that could help us."

Blake nodded. "You got it."

Ben smiled. "Thank y-"

The occultist was cut short as a sword familiar blasted through his neck. The blonde man's head rolled off of his shoulders and fell to the floor with dull eyes. Ben Conners was dead.

Blake didn't have time to scream or morn. The diviner rolled to to the side and took cover behind a pillar. More sword-shaped familiars blasted around him and he ducked as one shattered through the pillar.

"You know, I never thought that you'd be able to break free from my control!" Einsbern's voice called out. "You're quite the unpredictable one. Maybe that's why I enjoy playing with you so much." Her laugh echoed throughout the foyer. "Too bad Miss Tohsaka had to die before you could break free, though. It's really such a shame."

Anger flared in Blake. He knew that the woman was taunting him, but he didn't care. He was powerful enough to take her now. The diviner jumped out from behind the pillar and drew a card.

"Suit Series!" He called out. "Ten of Swords!"

He waited for his white swords to materialize and shoot at Einsbern. He was going to destroy her. She had taken everything from him. She was a monster that needed to die. He would-

Nothing was happening.

Blake looked at his card in shock and held it out again.

"Ten of Swords!" He called again.

Nothing.

"TEN OF SWORDS!" He yelled out louder.

Still nothing.

Einsbern began to laugh. What was happening. Why wasn't his magic working? Why weren't his swords appearing? Why did he feel so weak?

"So I see you decided to kill him," Einsbern observed between her fits of laughter. "You really are an idiot!"

The homunculus pulled a strand of hair from her scalp and formed it into a sword familiar. The familiar shot of towards Blake and forced him to dodge. She then pulled two more strands and formed two birds. The two animal familiars began to fire lasers at the tarot mage, forcing him to dive behind the pillar again.

"What are you talking about?!" He shouted.

More laughter.

"I guess there's no harm in telling you." She giggled as she continued her onslaught. "The fun side of you, that I came to enjoy so much, held all of your negative mana. When you killed him, you dissipated that mana. Magi cannot perform mage-craft without the simultaneous use of positive _and _negative mana. For tarot mages, that fact is even more irrefutable. Now that you destroyed all of your negative mana, you have essentially given up your rights as a magus."

Blake's eyes went wide. In destroying his evil self, he had destroyed his magic? No. That couldn't be. How else would he have made it out. There had been no other way. Had there been?

Suddenly, his conversation with Black came to mind.

"_That's all you are to Einsbern! A tool to be used and then thrown away!_" He had said.

"_If that's what I am to my mistress, then so be it._" Black had sneared. "_It's better than being locked up all the time, unable to be accepted by your own self._"

"_What are you talking about?_" Blake had scoffed. "_You're evil, of course I can't accept you._"

"_It may be true that I'm evil,_" Black had agreed. "_But that just means that part of __**you**_ _is evil as well. I am you after all. Everyone has good and evil within them, but instead of facing your evil, and accepting that it's there, you just ignore it. I am the result of that ignorance. That's why I'll take everything that you love! That's why I killed Lancer, and that's why I'll kill Ben and Rin as well! This is what happens when you ignore your problems, Blake! They come back to haunt you!_"

That was why. Blake had failed to accept the darkness within himself, and as a result, he had lost everything. If he couldn't use his his suit cards, then a Higher Arcana card was out of the question. Had Einsbern really won?

"_You really are a moron._" A voice echoed in his head.

It was his own voice. Yet...that tone…

"_Black?_!" Blake asked in surprise. "_How are you still here? I thought I killed you!"_

"_Like I said,_" Blake sighed. "_Moron. I'm a metaphysical persona stemmed from your subconscious. You couldn't kill me even if you wanted to. And you did want to."_

"What's wrong, pet?" Einsbern cued. "You don't want to come out and play?"

"_God, that bitch is annoying," _Black groaned.

Blake's brow furrowed in confusion. "_Bitch? I thought she was your mistress?_"

Laughter echoed in the diviner's head. "_Yeah. When she was controlling us. I had no choice but to call her mistress._"

The diviner heard the homunculus groan. Suddenly, the pillar began to get shattered away and Blake was forced to dive behind another one. He wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

"_And she's not anymore?_" Blake asked.

"_Nope,_" Black responded. "_When Rin accepted me as a part of you, we began to mesh again and Einsbern's control over us weakened to an extreme degree. Right before you were about to kill me, I was able to break free and submit, which allowed me to return your external consciousness back to you."_

Anger flared up in Blake. "_Then why did Rin still die?!_"

A sad feeling came over Blake, and he realized that it wasn't Black's fault. The sorrow he felt was Black's sorrow.

"I'm getting really tired of this, pet!" Einsbern screamed out. "Come out now!"

"Eat me!" Blake yelled back.

"_The last of Einsbern's control forced me to take the life of the only person that ever accepted me as a part of you." _Black grieved. "_Trust me when I say, I didn't want to kill her._"

Blake nodded. "_I do believe you. You're me. And I'd never want to hurt Rin._" He looked around the corner and instantly pulled his head back as a sword familiar shot by him. "_So what's the plan? If you're still around, then that means we still have some negative mana, right?"_

"_Yes, but there's too small of an amount to use any cards._" Black sighed in frustration. "_That was another result of our battle._"

Blake rolled to the side as two bird familiars flew around the pillar to shoot at him. A sword familiar came at him as soon as he came into Einsbern's view and forced him to jump. One of the bird familiars blasted him in the chest with a laser; sending him flying.

"_How do we recharge the negative mana then?_" Blake groaned in pain.

"_Exactly like that…_" Black said in surprise. "_When you just got blasted, our negative mana went up._"

"_Home many more of those do I need to take before our mana is balanced out?_" Blake asked as he struggled to his feet.

"_If we get the same amount each time…_" Black paused in thought. "_Then about three more times should be sufficient enough for us to execute your plan._"

Blake looked down at his shaking legs. "_Three?! I barely just took the one!_"

"_That's because you got hit in the chest like a dumbass!_" Black shot back. "_Just take the blasts in non-vital areas and you __**should**_ _be fine._"

"_You're a masochist, ya know that, right?" _Blake sighed.

"_Just take your shots like a man!_" Black groaned.

"_Fine!_" The diviner groaned back.

Blake rolled to the side to dodge the sword familiar and held up his arms to take one of the blasts. The red beam slammed into his forearms and sent him flying into the wall; causing spots of light to dance across his vision. He didn't have time to stay there though, so he pushed himself off of the wall as a sword familiar impaled where he had been, just a moment earlier.

That was one.

Blake jumped in the air as he saw another blast approaching his head. Due to his jump the red beam struck him in his hip. The impact caused him to flip in the air and land hard on his side. The wind was knocked out of him, but he had to keep moving.

That was two.

A sword familiar came down from above; making him roll to the side to avoid it. The sword rose from the ground and went above him again. He rolled in the opposite direction as it went down once more. The only thing that seemed to be moving him at this point was his adrenaline. His body was in pain beyond belief and his energy felt low, but he had one more hit left that he needed to take. This one had to hit him towards Caster or he wouldn't have the strength to make it to her.

Blake struggled to his feet; ducking as the sword familiar dislodged itself from the ground and swung for his head. He poured everything he had left into a sprint and put himself between one of Einsbern's bird familiars and Caster. The glowing creature blasted a red beam at him. This was it. The man turned his back and allowed the blast to knock him towards Caster.

He landed several feet away and attempted to crawl towards the unconscious servant, but he couldn't feel his legs. That last blast must have damaged his spinal cord. The man dragged himself with his arms.

"_Was that enough?_" Blake coughed as he pulled himself up next to the servant and slumped against the wall.

"_No,_" Black sighed in frustration. "_You're going to have to take one more._"

"_Are you serious?_!" Blake shouted. "_That one nearly killed us!_"

Einsbern began to hum as she walked down the stairs. Her bird familiars moved to fly behind her and her sword familiar flew into her hand.

"_I'm afraid so,_" Black sighed. "_Luckily you're right next to Caster, so all you have to do is hold on until you can activate the card. It doesn't matter if you die after. Time will just reverse."_

Einsbern stood over Blake with her sword pointed at his chest.

"This was a boring way for things to end," she sighed. "You were entertaining while you lasted, but I can't let a pet, that bites its master's hand, live. Any last words?"

Blake smiled and lifted his middle finger up at the homunculus. Irritation filled her eyes. While she was focused on the finger, he pulled the card he needed.

"You exhaust me to the end, Blake Ryan," Einsbern sighed. "Now die with the satisfaction of that fact."

Einsbern slid her sword into his chest. The taste of iron washed over Blake's tongue and blood began to drip from the sides of his mouth.

"_Now?_" Blake asked faintly. His vision was going dark.

"_Yes!_" Black shouted. "_Now!_"

The diviner touched the card to the servant. "Oh Higher Arcana, hear me and grant me the powers of this mage." He chanted. "Higher Arcana: The Magician."

Caster began to glow white and disappeared into the card. Einsbern's eyes widened in shock. She twisted her sword violently in his chest and he began to cough up blood.

"_Blake," _Black called. "_If I did my calculations correctly, you'll appear at the point before our fight. When you go to fight me again, don't. That will only cause a repeat of events. I'm sure you know what to do, so I leave it up to you."_

Blake nodded then looked to Einsbern. The only thing he could see was her white hair, but he could feel the anger rolling off of her. She twisted the sword harder. He couldn't see anything anymore, and sounds seemed so far away. He was dying.

"Why won't you die!" She screamed.

He smiled as he let his hands drop.

"Noble Phantasm: Time Reversal."

**A/N: I have to say, this was a hard chapter to write. I did not go with my original script at all and kind of diverged things. For those of you who are curious about my original draft, I plan on posting it after the story has concluded. That way you'll see how much the story actually evolved. Anyways folks, we're in the endgame now. There aren't too many chapters before the story concludes, so please bare with me. With that said, I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading.**

**-B**


	31. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 30- Blake**

Blake opened his eyes. He had just had the worst dream. He hadn't had one that vivid in a long time. It felt so real. The pain, the sorrow...it felt like he had experienced it all in real life. Simply thinking about it, made his heart hurt.

The diviner looked down at his chest. There was no wound, and the rest of his body felt fine. It couldn't have happened if there was no wound. Einsbern had stabbed him through his chest, right?

He mentally kicked himself. He was an idiot. If it all had been real, then there wouldn't be a wound. He _had_ reversed time, after all.

The man sighed. He decided that it hadn't happened. It must have been a dream that had stemmed from his anxiety about leaving his inner world. He had been in his inner world for more years than he could count, though he only remembered the last millenium or so. It was only natural to feel nervous about leaving.

But it had felt so real…

Blake shook his head and began to meditate. He would just check his lifespan. If it had changed at all, then it would tell him if it had been real or not. There was no way that it was different though. It had just been a dream. He'd find nothing different about his lifespan and things would be fine. That's right. It was just a-

_**78**_

Blakes eyes snapped open as a chill ran down his spine. No way. It had changed. His lifespan had been at seventy-nine when he had gone to sleep the night before.

It had all been real…

Everything became clearer in his mind. His fight with Black. Rin's death. Ben's death. His plan to reverse time. His struggle against Einsbern to execute his plan. It was all real. Everything had been real.

The man threw his covers aside. He didn't have any time to waste. He had to get to his fight with Black right away.

"_When you go to fight me again, don't." _Black's words returned to him. "_That will only cause a repeat of events._"

That's right. He couldn't fight with Black this time. He had to figure out a way to break his darkness free from Einsbern. Before, Black had only broken free last time when Rin had accepted him. Would simply accepting him break him free? That seemed like such a simple and cliché answer to the problem.

"_That's probably why it'll work," _Red's voice echoed.

Blake jumped. He had completely forgotten that Red had been with him in this world.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"_It's the simplest methods that are usually the most effective._" Red responded.

Blake laughed. "What, you read that off of a fortune cookie?" When Red didn't respond, Blake let out a sigh. "I have to go now."

"_I know,_" Red responded. "_Talk some sense into that bastard for us._"

Blake nodded and walked out of the shack he had created. As he left, that shack dissipated into golden dust; a trick that he could only achieve in this world.

Once again, he pulled the card that would free him from this world. He took one last look around. The world had become more beautiful the longer he had stayed. The cracked ground had turned into flowing fields of grass, and trees now spotted certain areas. Rivers and lakes had formed and the sun had begun to rise and fall. The moon had become more vibrant and stars twinkled brightly in the night sky. Part of him wanted to stay, so that he didn't have to return to the pain that awaited him. But he knew that he had to. He had made a promise to Rin.

"Oh great and powerful Higher Arcana," he chanted. "Hear my call and obey my will. Bring forth balance to this land within me. Call forth my darkness. Cast away this veil that I have been bound by. And grant me the power of your greatest servant. I hereby call out your name and beg for your assistance. Come forth! Higher Arcana: THE WORLD!"

The world around him began to crack and fracture. The moon faded out and fell from the sky. The grass withered and died. Stars began to wink out one by one. The air stood still for but a moment, and then everything shattered away.

When Blake opened his eyes again, he found himself on the platform of balance with Black giving him that sadistic grin of his.

"So you're alive after all, White." Black laughed. "I thought I had overtaken you, but I guess not. Oh well. This time I'll destroy you! Mistress will be pleased!"

Blake stood silent. Before, he had rushed into battle without thinking. He couldn't fight Black this time. He'd just have to wait him out.

Black grit his teeth in annoyance. "What's wrong, White? Not gonna respond? You think you're too good to respond to little ol' me?"

Blake just stood there, waiting.

Black's irritation rose. "So you're just gonna waste time and let me kill your friends? Fine by me. I'll kill all of them. Ben, Lancer, Saber, and Rin. I'll kill them all brutally and in the most painful way possible! You hear me?!"

Blake began to walk forward. He hoped that his plan would work. If it didn't, things would happen like they did before. He couldn't afford for that to happen. He couldn't afford to watch Rin and Ben die again.

"There we go!" Black smiled. "That's the spirit! Come to me! Summon your sword! Strike me down!" The dark diviner held out a card. "Suit Series: Ace of Swords."

A black and red sword materialized in his hand and he held the blade out. But Blake kept walking towards him, unarmed. This would work. It had to.

"What's wrong?" Black taunted. "Not gonna summon your sword?" Realization dawned on his face. "Ohhh, you're here to die, aren't you? You're fully submitting control to me. I get it now. As you wish."

Black charged at the white diviner.

This would work.

It had to work.

Please work.

Black's blade pierced through Blake's chest, and the dark diviner smiled. Victory was his. He was the dominant side! His mistress would be pleased. He would be Blake now! He had won! He had-

Blake's arms wrapped around Black in an embrace; pushing the blade deeper into his own chest. The embrace was warm and comforting. Black had never felt anything so warm.

"I accept you."

Black's eyes went wide. After all this time, he was being accepted? Now? After everything he had done? After everything he had threatened? Blake was finally accepting him?

"Why?" Black asked. Tears were starting to well up. He felt so strange inside. So warm. "Why are you accepting me? I'm evil! I'm the darkest parts of you! You're supposed to reject me! You're supposed to hate me!"

He heard Blake give a warm laugh. "If you're evil, then that just means a part of me is evil as well. You are a part of me after all. Maybe we can put some of that evil into doing some good. If the woman we love can accept you, then certainly I can accept you."

Red mana began to glow around Black and pain shot through him. The dark diviner screamed out and kicked Blake away.

"_What are you doing pet?_" His mistress's voice echoed around the platform. "_Finish him off! You've already wounded him. You just need to kill him now._"

"Must...listen...to...mistress…" Black moaned. "Must...kill...White…"

Black screamed out in pain and ran at Blake. He had to kill him. He had to listen to his mistress. He swung his sword at the diviner's neck. He'd take his head! He'd show mistress that he was worthy. He'd kill-

Blake smiled at him. It wasn't a taunting one. It wasn't one of amusement, nor was it one of over-confidence. It was one of acceptance. It was one that said, "Do what you have to."

The blade stopped right at Blake's neck. The white diviner hadn't even flinched. Had he known that Black would stop? The pain that shot through Black's head, brought him to his knees.

"_What are you doing, you useless piece of trash?!_" Einsbern's voice boomed. "_Kill him! Take what's mine! Show me your worth._"

The pain amplified.

Black screamed out and fell to his hands. What was going on? It was as if he could neither refuse nor comply at the same time. He felt like his mind was being ripped in two. He felt like he'd go insane.

A hand fell on his shoulder and through watery eyes, he looked up. Blake was smiling down at him with sincerity in his eyes.

"I've got you," Blake said gently. "You don't need to listen to her anymore. I'm here for you. I've got your back."

The pain was making Black's vision fade, yet he felt no desire to kill the man in front of him. In fact, he'd rather feel the pain he felt now, than even think of killing him.

"You can do it." Blake continued. "You can break free from her. You are Blake Ryan."

Black pushed back against the pain.

"_What_?!" Einsbern's voice called in shock.

Suddenly, the homunculus materialized on the platform. Her eyes were wide with both shock and anger.

"What is the meaning of this, Black?!" She screamed. "How dare you defy me! You are just my pet! A lowly, weak, little, pet! I'm your mistress!"

Black struggled to his feet and continued to push back against the pain. He was tired of being controlled. He was tired of being talked to like he was nothing. He was tired of pleasing this damn woman. He was tired of it all. He'd make it end.

"You're trash!" Einsbern continued. "Utter garbage! You're so useless that a rat could do a better job than you! How dare you turn your back on my kindness!"

Black gripped his sword. The red in the weapon began to crackle and fizzle. He was done taking orders from her. He was done with being her pet. He was done killing for her. She was of no more use to _him_.

The red completely faded from his sword and the pain dissipated. Finally, he was free. There were no more strings to see.

He began to move towards his former mistress.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Einsbern began to stutter. "Don't you dare take another step! I'll end your miserable life!"

She pulled a hair from her scalp and threw it into the air. When nothing happened, her eyes went wide.

"What's going on?!" She yelled at Black.

"What did you do?!"

Black smiled a wide, unforgiving, smile. "You have no power here," he laughed. "This is the inner world of Blake Ryan. No Einsbern's allowed."

Fear began to cross Einsbern's face. She moved to back up, but bumped into something. She spun around to see Blake staring down at her with cold eyes. He had been silent as everything was playing out, but he wouldn't let her escape.

Einsbern spun back around right as Black was pulling his sword back.

"No!" She screamed in fear. "Stay back! Stay back! I'm warning you! You'll regret th-"

Blake stepped to the side as Black rammed his sword right between Einsbern's eyes, splitting her head in half. She instantly went silent and began to fade away into red mist.

"Now you know how it feels, you annoying bitch," Black spat.

Blake stared in awe at his dark counterpart.

"That was brutal," he said. "What was that about?"

Black sighed. His head finally felt clear. "That was a physical manifestation of the mana that Einsbern was using to control us."

Blake's shoulders slumped. "So that means that we didn't actually kill her?"

"Unfortunately not," Black nodded. "But she shouldn't be aware that we regained control of ourself, unless she specifically looks into it."

"So we could take her by surprise then." Blake realized out loud.

"Yeah," Black smiled mischievously. "And she made the very poor mistake of leaving Berserker in our control. So we can revert Berserker back into Luna and use her against Einsbern."

A smile spread across Blake's face. "Things have definitely turned back in our favor."

Black nodded in agreement, then let out a sigh. "It's time to mesh. We need to get you back to the outer world."

"Are you sure?" Blake asked with concern. "Won't you disappear?"

"No," Black shook his head. "Trust me, I'll still be here. You won't be able to hear me, but you'll know."

Blake nodded and held out his hand. "Let's do this then."

Black looked at his hand for a moment and then took it.

**Out**

Blake's eyes opened just in time to see the fist fly into his face. The diviner flew backwards and crashed through a coffee table.

He looked up in a daze and saw a man in green armor running at him with a spear. His eyes widened and he rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding the spear strike. The spearman's sent another jab his way and he slid to the side to avoid it.

"Lancer!" Blake yelled. "Stop! It's me!"

The servant glared at him as he gave another thrust. "I'm not falling for that one again!"

Blake slid to the side again. This was going nowhere. He had to find a way to convince Lancer.

Lancer fainted to the right, causing Blake to dodge to the left, and then thrust his spear at the diviner.

"Ace of Pentacles!" Blake shouted as he activated his white pentacle shield.

The pentacle repelled the attack. Lancer moved in to break the shield down, but then paused. He was looking at the shield.

Realization dawned on the servant's face. "That white mana…" he trailed. "Blake...is it really you?"

Blake let out a sigh of relief as he let his shield dissipate. "Yeah, it's me," he nodded. "And we have a lot to discuss."

**A/N: Blake returns with at full power. What new events will occur in this new timeline? Will he be able to protect Ben and Rin? Keep reading to find out! There will be no more than ten chapters left in this story, so I can safely say we are approaching the end of my first ever story. Thank you for reading!**

**-B**


	32. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 31- Blake**

"So let me get this straight," Lancer began. "You came back here from the future?"

Blake nodded. "Yup."

"A future where the version of you, that I was just fighting, killed me?" Lancer continued.

"Yup," Blake nodded again.

"Then that same version killed Rin before you got control back."

Pain struck at Blake's heart at the mention of that last part, but the man nodded his confirmation.

"Then you went down to fight Einsbern, but discovered Ben and Caster. Then Ben was killed by Einsbern, and you basically had to survive before you could rewind time. And now you're here because you accepted the darkness within you and broke free from Einsbern's control." Lancer finished running through the story.

"When you say it like that, you make it sound crazy." Blake laughed nervously. "But yeah, that's about the gist of it."

The spearman rubbed his face in exasperation. "Sounds like you had a hell of a time."

No. That didn't describe it at all. He had been through Hell. He had been unable to do anything as he watched the people he cared for die one by one. Lancer had been included in those deaths. Now he had no time to waste.

"Now that you know the situation, there's something I need to do." Blake continued on. "But it might slightly alter the time again."

"Are you sure that messing with time is smart?" Lancer asked. "It could have lasting effects that you can't foresee."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Blake replied. "Besides, I promised Ben that I'd do this for him if I could."

It may have been true that he hadn't gone back far enough to tell Ben to summon Jeraldo instead of Fuddle, but there was still something he could do about it.

The diviner pulled a card from his deck.

"Are you sure about this, Blake?" Lancer asked again. "This could change things a lot more than you're anticipating."

"That's the hope." Blake smiled. The diviner turned away from his former servant and touched the card to his forehead. It was no Phone Microwave (Temporary Name), but it would do.

"_This is from the future._" He flowed into the card. "_Ben, summon Jeraldo instead of Fuddle. Our lives may depend on it._"

He then held the card in the air. "Oh Higher Arcana, hear me and obey. Send my message eighteen months into the past to Benjamin Conners with you're most Psychic servant. I call to you, Higher Arcana: The High Priestess!"

The card disappeared and Blake waited. He felt like something was supposed to happen. Wasn't the world supposed twist or contort or something. What was going on? He shrugged. Maybe Steins Gate was just a bunch of bull-

Nausea overcame him. He felt as if his head was swimming and being twisted into a whirlpool of discombobulation. For a moment he was unsure of what he was doing and where he was. Then it felt as if he was being whisked through the far reaches of space and time. Darkness. Light. The world. The universe. Who was he? What was his purpose? He felt so small and insignificant.

Then he was back.

Blake bent forward as the last traces of a headache faded away. What the hell had just happened? What in the world had he just experienced?

"Master?" Lancer's voice came. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Blake answered; standing up straight and shaking his head. "I guess it worked."

"You guess what worked?" Lancer asked.

"Sending the message back in time to Ben." Blake said. "Didn't we just go over tha-"

"You sent a message back in time?!" Lancer asked in shock. "Isn't that risky? You could have just changed things more than you realize."

That was weird. Blake could have sworn that he had just had this conversation with the spearman. His eyes went wide. No. He _hadn't_ had the conversation. He wouldn't have needed to. If Ben had summoned Jeraldo from the start, then Blake wouldn't have had a need to send a message back in time. That would mean that Lancer wouldn't have known about the plan, because, Blake himself, wouldn't have had that plan in the first place.

"Forget about it." Blake waved off. "It's done now. We have to get going."

Lancer looked like he had more to say on the matter, but the servant simply nodded and kept his mouth shut.

The two headed back towards the foyer.

**Rin**

Events were definitely not going Rin's way at the moment. The gem magus struggled against Caster's time dilation, but it was useless. She could barely move a muscle. On top of that, Berserker was closing in, and Einsbern had two sword familiars pointed at her. This was most definitely not an ideal situation. Where was Sarah? Had Einsbern truly defeated the death magus?

"You're so pathetic, Tohsaka." Einsbern giggled. "You thought you could take what was mine and get away with it? Blake Ryan is _my_ pet now!"

"He...has…no...choice…" Rin struggled out. The time dilation was making it hard to speak properly.

"Oh he has every choice," Einsbern laughed. "Either be my pet, or be in pain. It seems to me that he chose the logical choice."

"You're...a...monster…" Rin forced out.

"Oh, of that I am certain." Einsbern smiled cruelly. "But aren't all mages, to an extent? The only difference is, that I am honest with myself. Can you say the same? What atrocities has your family committed in that long, bloodstained, line of yours?"

It was true. The Tohsakas had shed plenty of blood over the past few centuries. Her family had committed many unforgivable acts, including an act her father himself had partook in. He had given his youngest daughter, Rin's younger sister, Sakura, to the Matou's, who then defiled the poor girl every day. If it hadn't been for Shirou, Sakura would have turned into a complete monster and would have had to have been put down. Rin let her head hang.

"Ah, things are about to become even more interesting." Einsbern laughed. "Welcome back, my pet."

Blake was back? Where was Lancer?

"I trust you took care of that pesky Lancer servant?" Einsbern asked smugly.

"Yes," Blake's voice came in an amused tone. "He was nothing but dirt beneath the feet of your most humble pet, dear mistress."

Rin's eyes widened. The situation had just changed from hopeless to impossible. It was now four on one with no chance of rescue. Rin tried to think, but there was no way out of this.

She looked up as footsteps came from behind her and stopped in front of her. Her eyes met Blake's warm, brown, ones and relief washed over her as he winked at her. It was Blake. Not the evil one from earlier, but the Blake she knew. Her Blake.

"_Master Rin_," Lancer's voice came in her mind. "_Just play along for now. I'm setting up to take out Caster. I've figured out a way to stop her Noble Phantasm from activating._"

"Would you like me to dispose of this utter garbage, mistress?" Blake cackled. "With her death, victory will be assured."

"Silly pet," Einsbern giggled. "Victory is already assured. I just want to make her suffer now."

"Oh?" Blake snickered in amusement. He was playing the role of a villain way too well. "And what did you have in mind for this pathetic creature?"

Einsbern's tone shifted to one of dead seriousness. "I want you to defile her body and strip her of any dignity she has left."

Blake tensed and Einsbern shrieked with laughter. "And _that_, dear pet, is how you break someone's act."

Shit. He had been found out. How had she known? He had played the part, to a tee. It had been a flawless performance.

Blake spun around. They had to enact their plan. "Lancer! Now!" He called.

Lancer materialized behind Caster and shattered her clock staff with his spear, but not before one of Einsbern's sword familiars was able to pierce him through his shoulder. The servant groaned in pain.

Instantly, Rin could move her body again and got up to her feet. The tides had turned greatly in their favor. The gem mage charged up a gandr shot and pointed it at Einsbern.

Lancer then stabbed Caster through her chest and spun to level his spear at the homunculus. Black pulled a card from his deck and prepared himself to use it. Einsbern was surrounded. There was no where for her to go.

To make things better, it was at that moment that Ben burst through the door riding on a unicorn with Jeraldo. Following in tow, was Sarah, with her Saber servant. He was a reserved looking man with four blades strapped to his back.

The tides had turned indeed.

**Blake**

"It's over Einsbern!" Blake announced. "You've lost!"

Einsbern laughed. "Please, dear pet. Do not claim something, such as _that_, so boldly. I have not lost in the slightest. You may have taken back control of your body, but I still have control over your will." The homunculus held out her hand. "Now I command you to use Berserker and kill all of my enemies!"

Nothing happened.

Einsberns face paled slightly. "Kill all of my enemies!" She shouted louder.

Yet again, nothing happened.

Einsbern turned to Berserker when she realized that Blake wasn't responding to her commands. "Berserker! Kill everyone! Now!"

"Master?" A soft voice came from the flaming servant. "Can I leave this form now? I don't like it."

Blake gave a chuckle and nodded.

Einsbern's eyes went wide as the flaming demon that had once been Berserker, began to shrink down into a rather short woman with milky skin and dark hair that fell to her shoulders. Lancer instantly flashed to her side and allowed her to hide behind him; burying herself in his back.

Einsbern rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Caster! Stop them! We need to get out of here at once!"

When nothing but silence met her command, the homunculus turned to see that Caster had already perished in a mist of red light.

The woman sighed as she hung her head. "You know," she muttered. "I thought that this would be fun." All eyebrows in the room raised. "I thought I'd start this grail war and allow you all to have fun with your imaginations. The only thing I asked for in return was for you all to be my entertainment."

Blake looked at Einsbern in shock. Had she just said that _she _was the one who started the grail war?! What was she talking about? There was no way! Was there? She couldn't have.

"But no!" Einsbern continued; her rage becoming more evident by the second. "You all had to go off script and believe that you could out-maneuver me! So you know what?!" The homunculus held her hand up in the air and a golden chalice appeared above it. Three glowing balls of light began to swirl around the brim of the cup. "Fuck this war! Let's play a new game called "_I win_"!"

That chalice...it was the Holy Grail… There was no mistaking it...

"Luna!" Blake called. They had to stop Einsbern now. If they didn't, he had a feeling that she was about to do something drastic.

"On it!" The demoness responded as she stepped out from behind her husband and slammed her hands down. "Noble Phantasm: Drag Me to Hell!" Burning chains exploded from the ground and wrapped themselves around Einsbern.

The homunculus laughed. "Nothing will stop this!" She called out. "It's futile to resist!"

"Saber!" Sarah called.

"As you command, my master!" The swordsman shouted back. The servant pulled a grey sword from one of his sheaths and held it in the air. "Noble Phantasm: Wave of Death!"

A black wave pulsed from the sword towards Einsbern, but before it could reach her, the chalice began to shine with golden light. Lancer, Rider, Saber, and Berserker all screamed out in agony as they began to dissolve into raw mana.

Blake's eyes went wide. The Grail was absorbing all of the servants in the area!

"Luna!" Lancer called as the chalice began to pull his beloved wife in. He reached out for her hand.

"Suingi!" She screamed out as the Grail absorbed her. Luna was gone.

As soon as Luna was absorbed, the evil chalice absorbed Lancer, then Rider, then Saber. Each one screamed out in pain as they went.

Blake's face went pale. They had just lost all of their servants in one fell swoop. There was no way... What had Einsbern done?

Seven balls of light now swirled around the brim of the of the Grail and the cup began to merge into Einsbern's chest. Brilliant, golden, light flashed throughout the room and power seemed to emanate with it. Something terrible was coming. Something that Blake hadn't prepared for. Was all of this happening because he had messed with time?"

As the light dimmed, Einsbern floated into the air and spread glowing white wings. Her eyes now glowed a brilliant white and her clothes had turned into a pure white dress with golden trimming. She looked like an angel ascending to the heavens.

"_Bow, you fools_," her voice echoed. "_Or my divinity will engulf you in its radiance_."

Blake stepped in front of Rin. He had to buy them some time to figure out a plan of attack. They could run, but he didn't think that they'd get far. That only left the option of attacking. But what could he do to slow her down?

A thought seemed to enter his mind. A three card combo? Yes. That could work. It would have to. But what three cards? The man reached for his deck and begged for the right cards to be drawn. As he pulled three cards, his eyes widened. Those would work.

"_You are all nothing but gnats to me now_," Einsbern sighed. "_And as gnats, you are destined to be squashed._"

Blake raised his hand of cards into the air. "Triple Card Combo!" he called. "Father's Seal of the Strong Pentacle Cup!"

Einsbern began to laugh, but when she looked up, her eyes went wide. A gargantuan golden chalice slammed down over her and melted into a huge ball of gold. Then, an equally large white pentacle wrapped itself around the gold ball, and with a bright flash, everything tightened.

The seal was complete.

"Whoa..." Rin stared in awe. "That was amazing!"

Blake shook his head. "That's not going to hold her for very long though. We need to come up with a plan fast."

**A/N: Sorry for the brief hiatus! I was having difficulty with finding the motivation to keep pumping out chapter. Besides that, there is good and bad news. They are the same exact piece of news, it just that it could be taken both ways. There should be only about five chapters left in this story. It makes me feel both sad and happy. This will be the first story that I've ever fully released and I am super happy about that. But I'm sad to see it end. I hope you all enjoy the conclusion. Thanks for reading!**


	33. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 32- Blake**

"Anyone have any good ideas?" Blake asked. "Or just any ideas in general?"

"I vote for keeping her in that seal," Ben said.

Blake rolled his eyes and looked up at said seal. Cracks were already beginning to form throughout the Pentacle layer, and the sphere of gold looked to be churning. They were running out of time.

"That seal won't hold." the diviner said. "It'll break soon and we'll be back at square one. She's too powerful for just one of us to do something about her."

The diviner looked over at Rin, but she seemed distracted. She seemed to be staring very intently at the back of his hand for some reason, and then she looked at the back of her own.

"Rin?" Blake touched her shoulder. "Are you ok?"

She was acting weird.

"Our command seals," She said with her face scrunched up in deep thought. "They're still on our hands." Her eyes widened and came up to meet Blake's. "I can still feel Lancer!"

Blake took in a sharp breath when he realized that he could still feel Luna as well. It was faint, but he could feel her. He looked over at Ben and Sarah. They too still had their command seals on their hands and now seemed to be concentrating.

"Can you guys still feel Rider and Saber?" He asked the other two.

They nodded.

Hope began to spark within Blake. "Then that means that they're still alive in there, and that means that we might be able to use our command seals on Einsbern."

A plan was beginning to form. Command seals were a ridiculously powerful source of mana. Outside, in this world, the four of them couldn't defeat Einsbern on their best day. The homunculus would most likely have all of the powers of all of the servants that had returned to the Grail and be nearly impossible to stand up to.

Through his training in his inner world, Bkake had learned that everything with a consciousness has an inner world within itself. From what he knew of it, the Grail was a conscious entity. That meant an inner world. An inner world meant a place to trap Einsbern.

"Guys," Blake smiled. "I think I know how we can beat her."

"By using it command seals to tell her to kill herself?" Sarah asked. "That would be a convenient option.

Blake shook his head. "That's too risky. She could choose to do that in a way that would make the Grail within her, react in a negative way. That could result in something like the Great Fuyuki Fire in 2004. I'd like to avoid that if possible."

Sarah nodded; acknowledging his point.

"Then what's your plan, Blake?" Rin asked.

"We use all of our command seals to force her into the Grail's inner world." Blake responded. "In there, we should be, at the very least, be on equal footing with her."

"Would that work?" Ben asked. "And even if it did, how would we get in there with her?"

"We'd need two highly trained mages to force a gate open," the diviner answered. "That gate would allow two of us to enter and face her. If I'm right, and being inside the grail puts us on equal footing, then two of us should be enough to take her on."

"Right, so you and I will go in." Rin said.

Blake shook his head. An image of Rin lying dead against a wall entered his mind. "No, I-we need you out here to keep the gate open."

Irritation crossed Rin's face. "What?! Why?! I'm one of the most skilled magi here! That doesn't make any sense!" Her anger seemed to be rising.

"Rin-" Blake began. He wanted her to understand. He couldn't risk her dying again.

"No!" She cut him off. "I'm not done. You can't just come back here after being taken, and start calling all the shots after making m-Ben worry so much!" Tears were welling up in the woman's eyes now. Blake had never seen her lose her cool like this. "Do you know how you made him feel? He couldn't stop worrying! You turned him into a wreck! And now you're just back like nothing ever happened?! No! Don't you know how furious he is at you?"

"I'm really no-" Ben tried to interject.

"Shut up, Ben!" Rin yelled. Ben shrank back. "You really pissed him off! How could you? You asshole! You stupid, inconsiderate, brainless, asshole! Screw yo-"

She was stopped short by Blake's embrace. "It's ok," he whispered. "I'm back now. I'm not going anywhere. I hope "Ben" can forgive me."

Ben was getting the strong feeling that they weren't actually talking about him anymore.

"You're an idiot…" Rin said as she pounded his chest with her fists. "A stupid, brain-dead, idiot…"

With those words, she finally relaxed into his embrace.

"I need you to stay out here," Blake whispered as he held the magus. "I'll take Ben in with me. You and Sarah look like you're injured and we don't have Rider to heal you guys anymore. On top of that, you two are our most experienced magi. We need you guys to keep the gate open."

"But I just got you back," Rin whispered.

"Don't worry," The diviner smiled. "Like I said, I'm not going anywhere. Just please do this for me. Please."

The gem magus nodded. She could now tell that it was important to him that she did. As much as she didn't like being benched. She'd do this for him.

"Uh, guys," Ben's voice came. "I hate to interrupt whatever it is that's happening right now, but I don't think that that's a good sign."

Blake pulled away from Rin and looked up at his seal. The Pentacle layer had completely crumbled away, and the golden sphere had begun to melt. The seal was failing. They had to get ready.

"Ok everyone," Blake called as he held his command seals out. "This is going to take all of our command seals to pull off. Get ready."

The other three magi spread out and followed Blake's lead. The gold had melted down to the point of taking on Einsburn's shape.

"When the rest of that gold melts away, I need everyone to fire off all of their command seals at once." Blake commanded. "We need to force her into the Grail!"

His companions nodded. The plan would work. It had to. If it didn't, the world would be in danger. Blake's family, his friends, but most importantly, Rin, would be at Einsbern's mercy. He couldn't let that happen.

The last of the gold melted off of Einsbern, revealing her shining figure once more. The homunculus wore a look of annoyance as she dusted herself off.

"That was a cute little trick, pet." She sneered. "But I honestly hope that you didn't expect that to finish me off. That would be much too disappointing if that ended up being your trump card."

Blake smiled. "Oh no, that was just to buy time. Now!"

"By my command seals," everyone began to chant. All four of their hands began to glow.

This would work. It had to work. Blake needed this to work. Images of his friends' lifeless bodies went through his mind. He couldn't afford for it not to work.

Einsbern sighed and held out her hand. A staff with an hourglass on top materialized and the hourglass turned sideways. Instantly, time stopped.

The homunculus walked up to Blake. "Did you really think that I'd give you time to pull off a stunt like that?" She sighed. "That was very disappointing. And after I took my sweet time getting out of your weak little seal too? Pathetic."

Einsbern waved her hand in front of Blake's face and it instantly resumed.

The man immediately stopped chanting and looked at Einsbern with wide eyes. How had she gotten so close? Why couldn't he move his body?

"I'll take pity on you, my pet," Einsbern cued. "And I'll kill you last. But who should I kill first I wonder?"

She waved her hand in front of Ben's and Rin's faces. They instantly stopped chanting as well and paled when they realized that they too could not move.

"I want you to choose, Blake," the homunculus said. "Should I kill your best friend in the whole wide world? Or should I kill the woman that you love more than anything? I'll even make the deal sweeter. If you choose, I'll let one of them live. If you don't, I'll kill them both. You have ten seconds. Ten."

Blake's eyes went wide. How could he choose something like that? He loved Rin, but Ben had been by his side for over ten years. There's no way he could choose one over the other. There was no way.

"Nine," Einsbern counted down. "Eight."

"Blake!" Ben called. "Choose Rin!"

"Seven."

Blake shook his head. He couldn't do that. He couldn't choose. But Ben continued. "You've searched a long time for someone to make you happy."

"Six."

"Choose happiness!" Ben shouted. "Choose Rin! I'll be okay!"

"Five."

Rin shook her head. "No, Blake! Choose Ben! He's your best friend!"

"Four." Einsbern was smiling now. "Three."

"He's always been there for you!" Rin shouted. "So choose him!"

"Two, make a choice, pet!" Einsbern laughed. Two sword familiars formed and pointed at Ben and Rin. "One. Choose!"

Blake couldn't. He couldn't choose. Why did he have to choose? Why was this happening? Was he going to lose everything again? Why did it turn out like this, again? But if he didn't choose, both of them would die. He had to choose. He needed to save at least one of them.

Blake opened his mouth to say a name.

"_That won't be necessary._" a voice echoed from Einsbern.

A familiar looking spear exploded from Einsbern's side and pierced the hourglass on her staff. Time returned to normal as the hourglass shattered and Einsbern keeled over in pain, making the sword familiars fall to the ground.

"Lancer?!" She shouted in shock.

"_Hurry, you four!_" Lancer's voice echoed again. "_Her absorption of the grail isn't quite complete yet!"_

"Right!" Blake nodded. "Everyone! Now!"

"By our command seals," they chanted. "We order you, Ireana von Einsbern, to go into the the grail and stay there!"

Nine seals boomed across the room and slammed into Einsbern with enough force to knock her back. The homunculus began to glow red as she screamed out in pain. A black hole seemed to open up in her chest and began to pull her in bit by bit, until all that remained was the floating chalice.

"Rin, Sarah, open the gate," Blake nodded at the two female magi.

They nodded back and held out their hands; beginning to chant. Streams of blue and black mana met the cup and a brilliant white passage opened before the four.

This was it. The final battle. If Ben and Blake didn't defeat Einsbern now, then the world would be doomed. They could do this. They had to do this. There was no other option.

"Are you ready, bro." Blake asked Ben.

The two of them had been through so much together in their lives. Of all the people to have his back, he knew that Ben would cover it.

"Fuck bro. Probably not, bro," Ben laughed. "But I'm guessing we're going anyways." The occultist smiled. "We'll finish this war how we started it. You and me. Together."

Blake nodded. He couldn't have said it better himself. The two fist-bumped and began to walk towards the gate.

Blake was almost there, when he felt a pair of slender arms wrap themselves around him from behind and a face bury itself in his back. He smiled.

"You better not die," Rin's voice said with an odd mix of grumpiness and worry. "Or I'll kill you."

Blake laughed. "I'll be back as long as you make sure that the gate stays open."

"Come on, man!" Ben called. "We gotta go!"

"One last thing," Rin whispered. "If you make it back, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about."

Blake nodded. "I'll be sure to definitely make it back then."

With that, Rin released him and watched as he walked with Ben into the light of the passage.

"Good luck," She whispered.

**A/N: The final battle is about to begin. Are you all ready for the climactic battle? I know I am! Thank you for reading and see you next time!**

**-B**


	34. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 33- Blake**

As the eyes of the two magi adjusted to the light around them, they discovered that they had now entered what appeared to be a grand throne room. The entire room was crafted with pure white marble and though there appeared to be no light source, the room was illuminated in a way that didn't allow for shadows to appear. It was a place of pure light. Seven pillars, three on the left side and four on the right, lined a golden carpet that led all the way up to an elevated platform on which a golden throne resided. Upon closer inspection, Blake noticed that, within each pillar, there resided a servant, and that he could recognize the one closest to him.

"Lancer!" The diviner called out as he ran to the pillar. "Don't worry! I'll get you out of there!"

Humorless laughter came. "He can't hear you," a high pitch voice echoed from the other side of the room. "I imagine that the grail is almost done consuming him."

Blake spun to see that Einsbern, in her regular clothes, was sitting upon the throne with a cold look on her face. This was the first time that he had ever seen that look on her face. He didn't think that it matched the personality she had displayed up until that point.

"You know, Ryan, you're really starting to piss me off," she said in a deadly tone.

"I only aim to please," Blake smiled back. There was zero authenticity in his smile. He wanted to finish this, but Ben seemed to be concentrating on something, so he decided to let her keep talking.

"No one has ever defied me and outplayed me like you have." The homunculus continued. "At any other point in time, I would slaughter you mercilessly and kill everything you love, but I seem to find myself in a predicament. So instead, I'll offer you an opportunity."

"Oh?" Blake asked in amusement. "And what would that be?"

"Join me," she said as she stood and held out her hand.

Blake let out a humorless laugh. "You're joking right? Me? Join you? You should have put all you bets on being a comedian instead of a mage."

Einsbern didn't laugh. "Think about it this way, Ryan. That gate is going to stay open until one or both of you go through it." She motioned at the glowing gate behind the two magi. "You want to return to your precious Tohsaka. If I kill you here, you can't do that."

"Bold of you to assume that you'll kill me," Blake laughed. He could feel the magic power from Ben rising as time passed. He wondered what Ben was doing and hoped that the occultist had a good plan in store.

"Oh I will surely kill you if you do not accept, but it would be beneficial for us both if you take this deal," Einsbern continued without emotion. "If you join me and free me from this cursed prison, I'll let you do whatever you desire in the world. I'll even let you live peacefully with Ms. Tohsaka. All you have to do is let me walk through that gate."

"Hmmm…" Blake put his thumb and forefinger to his chin in feigned thought. Ben's power stopped rising. He had to be ready now. "Tempting offer. Buuutttt...counter offer."

Ben's fist slammed into the side of Einsburn's face with an impact that sent a shockwave throughout the room. The occultist was completely enveloped in burning red hellfire and had appeared to of taken on the form of a demon.

"Perfect Possession: Berserk Soul!" Ben roared.

His eyes glowed red with anger and threatened to destroy everything in his path, but something was off. His punch should have sent Einsbern crashing through the throne and into the wall behind it, but it seemed as if Ben's punch had been stopped at the point he had struck. In fact, the blow hadn't even moved Einsbern in the slightest.

The homunculus smiled. "Noble Phantasm: Absolute Cancel. She then held up her hand and gems began to form above her.

"Ben!" Blake called out. "Get back!"

The occultist disengaged and jumped back right as gems passed through where he had been only a moment before. Those abilities had been Lancer's and Archer's abilities! She could use them in this world?!

Einsbern smiled. "So it's safe to assume that you have rejected my offer?"

**Rin**

The magus hated that she had to be outside of the gate while Blake was fighting inside. He was supposed to be _her_ apprentice, yet he was the one who was doing all of the fighting. She had just gotten him back and now he was inside the grail, risking his life. She hated it. She hated it with a burning passion.

"You might want to ease up on the mana generation, Frau Tohsaka," Schrodinger chided. "I know you're worried about them, but you'll burn through all of your mana too quickly if you keep generating that much into the gate."

Shit. She hadn't realized she had been doing that. Her frustration at her own uselessness had made her lose focus on her mana control. The magus took a deep breath and allowed her mana generation to drop to a more reasonable rate. She _was _doing something to help. She was helping to keep the gate open. Blake couldn't make it back without the gate.

"Thanks for the heads-up," Rin nodded at the death magus.

"This gate will take the both of us to keep open," Schrodinger said. "So I can't have you running out of mana. Especially when the diviner is in there."

I twinge of jealousy struck at Rin, as irrational as it may have been. The Princess of Death was a very attractive woman, and the thought of that attractive of a woman being so devoted to _her _Blake, made the gem magus's gut twist. She knew that Blake only had eyes for her, but she couldn't help but imagine him with the death magus. The thought made her blood boil.

"You're doing it again," Schrodinger sighed.

"Sorry!" Rin apologized. She needed to stop thinking about such trivial things. They weren't going to happen, so she needed to calm down.

"Rin?" Schrodinger called.

"Yes?" Rin answered.

"Can you tell me more about the diviner...er...no...about Herr Ryan," the death magus asked.

"What is it that you want to know?" Rin returned with suspicion.

"He's a good man, yes?" Schrodinger inquired.

"More like an infuriating child," Rin huffed. "But yes, he's a good man. He even saved my life."

"Well that's not too surprising," Schrodinger said in thought. "He was emanating an incredible amount of power just now. I've never felt anything like it."

"Are you saying…?" Rin trailed off.

"Yes," the death magus nodded. "He's more powerful than either of us. The only one with the raw power to match his was Einsbern, and that was only when she had merged with the grail."

"So you're asking me if he is good because you want to make sure that he's not a threat to the world?" Rin asked.

"Yes," Schrodinger nodded. "Or more, if he is merciful. If he holds no mercy then the mage world may be in danger."

"I thought you said that you'd serve him and aid him," Rin said; frustration growing in her chest.

"I will," her companion nodded. "But I need to know if I need to start creating a new Mages' Association now."

"A new...why?" Rin asked. What was Schrodinger getting at?

"Because after this war, every branch of the Association plans to go after him." Schrodinger said. "If that happens, and he is not merciful, then mage society, as we know it, will be crumbled into dust."

"To dust?" Rin asked in shock. She didn't realize that Blake had become so powerful. Could he really take on the entirety of the Association and win?

"Yes," the death magus nodded. "So tell me, is he merciful? Or not?"

Rin thought back to every action that she had seen Blake take. Out of all of the magi she had observed for the war, he had been the magus that she had the least amount of information on. That had been part of the reason why she had wanted to meet with him on the first day of the war. Was he merciful?

The gem magus recalled his wish. A wish for everyone that he cared about to live in a world where they could smile freely. He had saved her life. He was kind, if not a bit of child. But was he merciful?

Rin opened her mouth to answer, but before she could do so, dark red goo began to fill the grail and trickle out onto the ground. The ground began to burn wherever the goo landed. The Grail was reacting to the battle within.

Things had just gotten much more complicated for the two magi.

**Blake**

The diviner rolled out of the way of a gem missile as it exploded into the ground. Einsbern has become almost impossible to deal with. Ben and him could barely even get close to her, and when they did, she activated Lancer's Noble Phantasm. The fight was going nowhere.

"Is this really all you have?" Einsbern laughed. Dozens of gem shards began to fly at the pair.

"I liked that move better when it was on our side." Ben growled as he slid back, next to Blake.

"Suit Series: Ace of Pentacles!"" Blake called as he threw up his white shield. "So did I. But it's clearly not."

The diviner was shocked to find that his shield withstood the barrage without even a crack. Had his power improved that much. He wanted to test it out more.

"Suit Series: Three of Swords!" He called.

Three enormous swords boomed into existence and exploded towards Einsbern. The homunculus's eyes went wide, but she managed to block the attack with _Absolute Cancel. _

Blake didn't stop there, "Suit Series: Four of Swords!"

Four more gigantic swords materialized and fired. Einsbern held up her hand, but then quickly took it down and dodged the attack. Why had she done that? Was there a limit to her _Absolute Cancel_? No. _Absolute Cancel_ was absolute. Hence the name. Did she not deem the attack worthy enough to block? That couldn't be it. She had used _Absolute Cancel_ on his _Three of Swords. _The _Four of Swords_ would have warranted more attention than the former._._ Then it had to be…

"Intervals…" Blake whispered to himself.

If he was correct, then Einsbern had to wait for a certain time interval to pass between abilities. That would mean that she couldn't use any abilities during that interval. He had to test his theory. If it was correct, then there was hope.

"Ben," he called to his friend as he threw up a Pentacle shield. "I need you to force her to our right."

"What do you have in mind?" The occultist asked.

"You'll see," Blake smiled.

Ben nodded and exploded forward; dodging a gem barrage. As soon as he was clear of the gems, he threw a punch at Einsbern with his left fist; forcing her to jump to the right.

Blake concentrated his mana this time. He wanted his swords to be smaller and more precise. He focused on condensing the image of his white swords in his head as he pulled his card. "Suit Series: Ten of Swords!" Blake projected.

Ten regular sized swords of white formed and exploded towards his enemy. Einsbern shot gems at the swords to knock them off their course, but the swords shattered through all of the gems without having their course altered. The white blades pierced in a circle around Einsbern with not a single one being close to hitting her.

"Nice shot," Ben said sarcastically as he jumped back next to Blake. The diviner rolled his eyes and revealed the second card that he had been hiding underneath his first. "Suit Series: Ten of Wands."

The white swords dissipated to reveal ten white Wands. Lightning crackled at their tips and formed a circle around the homunculus. Then, electricity exploded towards the middle. Einsbern's eyes went wide again and she was forced to use _Absolute Cancel._

As soon as the attack stopped, Blake began his counting.

One.

"Suit Series: Ace of Swords!" Blake called.

Two.

The sword materialized in the air and began its journey.

Three.

The sword flew through the air to meet its target.

Four.

Einsbern looked around her and realized that she wouldn't be able to dodge. Electricity still surrounded her from Blake's _Ten of Wands. _The homunculus then held up her hand to attempt an _Absolute Cancel._

Five.

"No!" Einsbern screamed as the white sword pierced through her hand and shoulder; pinning the two body parts together in an unsavory position. She cried out in pain.

"You hit her…" Ben said in shock.

Blake smiled. He had indeed. After an _Absolute Cancel,_ they would have to hit her within five seconds or less. She had shown them her weakness. Now they would show her their strength.

**A/N: Part one of the final battle? Completed! I honestly feel that I've gotten a bit better at fight scenes. I'm pretty proud of this chapter and I hope it will be enjoyed. Only a few more chapters are left. What will the conclusion hold for our heroes? Thanks for reading and see you again soon!**

**-B**


	35. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 34- Rin **

The situation had turned dire. The red goo, that Rin soon identified as a curse, was starting to reach the feet of the two magi. If the flow of curses continued at its current rate, they would have to spare mana to guard their bodies, and risk having to decrease the amount of time that they could keep the gate open. That would not be desirable. If only there was a way to be about it...

A memory of Blake using his pentacle shields as a springboard popped into Rin's mind, which gave her an idea.

"Sarah," she called to her companion. "Can you hold the gate by yourself for five seconds? I'm going to create a platform for us to stand on."

The plan would require some extra mana on both of their parts, but it would require a lot less mana than constantly warding their bodies would.

The death magus nodded and allowed twice the amount of her black mana to flow into the gate. Rin dropped her hands and grabbed an emerald from her gem pouch. She really hoped that this would work. The magus began to push mana into the gem.

"On my count, jump," the gem magus called over. Sarah nodded. The Princess of Death looked like she was struggling under the strain of keeping the gate open.

"One, two, three, JUMP!" Rin yelled. The two magi jumped as high as they could and Rin threw down her emerald. Instantly, a green gem shield formed beneath them and acted as a platform for them to stand on. As soon as they landed, Rin allowed her blue mana to flow into the gate again. Sarah sighed as the extra strain was taken off of her.

They would be safe from the curses for a little while, but Blake and Ben need to hurry. Rin didn't know if they could keep the gate open much longer.

**Ben**

Einsbern groaned before the two magi. She was clearly in pain. Ben was amazed at how his friend had been able to land that attack. Neither of them had landed a single blow, up until that point. The occultist was beginning to understand why tarot mages were considered to be the most versatile and powerful combat mages.

The diviner's humor seemed to have left him. Ben watched as Blake stretched out his hand towards Einsbern and made the sword, that he had buried into her hand and shoulder, slide out from his target and returned to his hand as he walked towards her. There was something wrong with Blake. The diviner was acting strange. Ben could see the look of bloodlust in his eyes. It was a look of pure, unadulterated vengeance. What had occurred to cause such hatred?

Ben tried to move towards his friend, but the sheer presence of the diviner's rage kept the occultist glued in place. He couldn't move. The weight of his friend's intent seemed to increase the gravity in the room nearly ten times over. The occultist felt as if the world would shatter if someone tried to stop Blake now.

"You caused everything I loved to die," Blake growled. There was pain and anger and sorrow in his voice. His words seemed to ripple through the room. "Now feel at least a fraction of the pain I had to endure, because of _you_!"

Blake swung his sword down on the homunculus, but she activated _Absolute Cancel._ The diviner seemed to have anticipated the movement though, and let his sword dissipate right as it made contact. He then called it again, into his left hand, and severed her arm, from her body, at the shoulder, with an underhand cut. Einsbern cried out in pain as blood began to pour from the wound. She seemed to be getting light headed, but Blake wasn't done with her yet.

"Suit Series: Ace of Wand," Blake called forth.

A white and black wand formed in the diviner's hand and he blasted fire into her wound, effectively cauterizing it. Einsbern screamed out in more pain, but then began to laugh.

"Excellent, pet," She cued. "Savor the kill. Make it last. Give into that rage. Show me what a monster _really_ looks like."

Blake roared in rage. Ben took an involuntary step back. This was no longer his friend. The diviner's rage was consuming him. Ben didn't understand why m his friend had suddenly flipped out. He had said that Einsbern had caused everyone he loved to die. But what did that mean. As far as Ben knew, everyone that Blake loved was still alive.

Blake severed and cauterized Einsbern's left leg. "That's for Lancer!" He did the same to her left arm. "That's for Rin!"

For Rin? Einsbern hadn't done anything to Rin yet. As far as Ben knew, Blake had gotten to Rin before Einsbern could do anything to her. He understood the Lancer part, but he couldn't understand the Rin part.

Blake severed Einsbern's right leg and cauterized it too. "And that's for Ben and Fuddle!" It was amazing that Einsbern was still conscious.

Now Ben was really confused. He'd barely even met Einsbern before. And Fuddle? Why was Blake mentioning Ben's D&D character? Things didn't make sense. It was as if Blake was experiencing a completely different reality.

Einsbern laughed as her limbless body fell to the floor. "So that's what it is!" She cackled. "You're from the future. No...that's not correct. You're from an alternate future. You couldn't kill the me there, so you're taking out all of your anger, from that timeline, on this me. That's so pathetic."

Blake reversed his grip on his sword so that it was pointed down over the homunculus's chest. His hands were shaking and water was dripping onto the pummel. Wait...no. That wasn't water. It was tears. Blake was so enraged that he was crying.

"What's wrong, pet?" Einsbern mocked. "You went this far, but now you can't finish the job? Utterly pathetic. This is why I'll kill you and that occultist over there. Then I'll get out and kill that Tohsaka bitch. Create a world where everyone you love can smile freely? Don't make me laugh. You don't have the balls to create a world like _that_."

Blake's eyes came up with new rage in them, and roared as he raised the blade to plunge it down into Einsbern's chest.

The homunculus smiled, making Ben's eyes go wide. She had something planned. The occultist struggled against the weight of Blake's intent. He had to move. He had to stop his friend.

"_Luna,_" Ben called to the servant in his body. "_I need you to lend me all of your power so that I can stop him. I think Einsbern is planning something._"

"_You got it, Ben!_" the Berserker servant responded.

Immediately, the occultist's power erupted to a new level, allowing him to break free from his petrified state, leap forward, and grab Blake's wrist before the diviner could plunge his sword down into Einsbern.

The sword had become a swirling entanglement of black and white, and Blake's eyes had become crimson red. The diviner didn't even acknowledge that the occultist's hand was on him, and struggle to push the blade down. Even with Ben's boost the sword tip was inching closer to Einsbern's body.

"Blake," Ben attempted to keep his voice calm. "You need to stop. Think about what you're doing?"

"You're not real," Blake growled. "Get out of my head!"

"That's right, pet!" Einsbern laughed. "It's all a figment of your imagination. I killed him, remember?"

"Blake!" Ben yelled. "Don't do this! Don't listen to her!" Ben's possession spell was beginning to fail. He could feel himself weakening as the sword tip traveled closer and closer to Einsbern's chest. Stopping his friend was consuming all of his demi-servant mana.

"Shut up!" Blake yelled. "You're dead! _She_ killed you! I'm trying to avenge you! Let me do it! Let me end her!"

"That's right, pet!" Einsbern giggled. "I killed him! Now take your vengeance out on me!"

It was then that Ben noticed it. He had missed it earlier because Einsbern's eyes were naturally red, but now that he was up close, he could see it.

Her eyes were glowing.

Now it made sense. She was doing something to Blake. That's why the diviner's eyes were red as well.

"Blake! Stop looking at her!" Ben had to put all of his strength into stopping the blade's downward motion. His possession's time limit was almost up. He had to push the warding harder. He had to keep Luna's strength if he wanted to stop Blake. "Think about Rin! She's alive! She's waiting for us just outside that gate!"

"Stop lying!" Blake yelled as he added more pressure. "Rin's dead! I should know! I'm the one who fucking killed her!" Tears were welling up in the diviner's eyes, but his rage remained very much intact. "I pushed a sword through her chest! Just like this! Because this bitch was controlling me!"

"And what do you think she's doing now?" Ben asked. He winced. He could feel the warding, in his body, burning up. "Can't you see? She _wants_ you to do this. She has to have a reason for it. If you want to kill her, that's fine. But it has to be with a level head!"

The pressure that Blake was applying weakened slightly and the sword raised a bit.

"Are you serious, pet?!" Einsbern laughed. Irritation was beginning to creep into her voice. "You're going to listen to the ramblings of a ghost? Kill me! I forced you to kill your precious Tohsaka! Take your vengeance out on me! End me!"

Blake's arm gave out and the sword rose away from the limbless homunculus. "No," he whispered as the red faded from his eyes. The black and white on his blade stopped swirling and set evenly. Half the blade was now black, and the other half was now white. "I won't let you control me anymore."

Ben sighed as he let go of Blake's wrist. His friend was back.

The possession spell wore off and Ben returned to his normal form. He could tell that he wouldn't be able to allow hostile spirits to possess him until he could fix the warding. The excessive use had burned out some of the wards in his DNA.

"Well," Einsbern sighed. "That certainly is a disappointment."

The sound of flesh being pierced with metal echoed throughout the room.

Ben looked down in shock as he saw the blade of a sword familiar sticking out from his chest. It was odd. He felt no pain. He just felt cold. The occultist fell to his knees and soon found himself coughing up blood.

Blake wore a look of utter shock on his face. The man couldn't seem to move.

Ben couldn't help but laugh. This was just his luck. Maybe he could take Einsbern with him.

When he looked down at the spot where Einsbern had been, he found that she was no longer there. Instead, a stream of red mana seemed to be flowing into the sword buried in his chest. What was that? Where was Einsbern?

"_In here,_" a voice laughed in his head.

Suddenly, the cold he felt turned into extreme heat. The sword in his chest began to glow red and condensed into the wound it had inflicted. He felt like his body was on fire; almost as if he had been thrown into a volcano.

The wound in his chest healed, but he felt his consciousness sinking. Sinking into the lava. No. It was cool now. Cool like water. He was sinking in an ocean.

"_I'll be borrowing this,_" Einsbern's voice cackled. "_Don't expect it back for a while._"

No! He couldn't fall like this! He still had to fight! He had to defeat Einsbern! He had to destroy the grail! There was so much more that he still had to do. Things couldn't end this way!

"_Blake…"_

"_Rin…"_

"_I'm sorry…"_

Ben's consciousness faded into the depths.

**A/N: Only two or three chapters left, and then an Epilogue. I am well on my way to finishing this story within my set time limit. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I may take tomorrow off, depending how I'm feeling, but as always, thank you for reading! I hope to see you again.**

**-B**


	36. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story if for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 35- Rin**

Rin could feel fatigue creeping in on her, and as she looked to Sarah, she could tell that the death magus was starting to feel it too. They could probably only hold the gate for about five more minutes, and that was at the very most. The gem magus's legs were beginning to shake underneath her and her entire body felt like lead. It had been a long time since she had drained herself to that extent.

But, she had to keep going. She had to keep the gate open for Blake. Blake had nearly crippled his magic circuits for her after Archer had been defeated. The least she could do was keep one stupid gate open for him. If she couldn't even do that, then she didn't deserve to be called his master.

Sarah dropped down to one knee. It looked like holding the gate, by herself earlier, was taking its toll on the death magus. The black mana that had constantly been streaming from her, up until that point, was beginning to thin out into a weak line.

"You're not looking so good over there, Ms. Schrodinger!" Rin called. "How do you expect to serve the diviner if you can't even hold one measily gate open for him?"

It was a mean thing to say, but Rin needed to spur her companion on, in order to get Blake out of the grail safely. Now was not the time for compassionate words. If the gate closed, there was no getting either of the magi, on the other side, back.

Yet, Sarah seemed to understand the meaning behind the gem magus's words and rose to her feet again; returning her stream of mana nearly back to normal. The Princess of Death was indeed powerful. She would be a good ally for Blake to have.

Suddenly, the grail began to crack and more red curses started pouring out. The foyer had been nearly filled with the disgusting curses and the house had already caught on fire. The only thing that was protecting the two magi from the inferno and the curses was Rin's gem shield, but even that was beginning to fail. Cracks were starting to appear beneath the two magi. It wouldn't be long now.

If Blake and Ben didn't get out of there soon, then calamity would soon follow and the world would surely burn.

**Blake**

The diviner stared at his kneeling friend, with wide eyes. What the hell had just happened? He could have sworn his friend was going to die. He had been stabbed by one of Einsbern's familiars, but now the occultist's breathing had seemingly evened out and the sword that had been impaled in his chest had vanished. In fact, there was no wound left to be seen! Was this part of the magic that the occultist had used earlier? Regardless, they needed to finish off Einsbern and get out the grail's inner world.. The throne room was beginning to crumble and red goo was starting to pour from the cracks.

A chill went down Blake's spine as he looked down to where he had left Einsbern. She had been remarkably silent and now he knew why. She wasn't there anymore. The diviner looked around in a panic. She wasn't anywhere. How had she been able to move? Her arms and legs had been severed from her body. There was no way that she should have been able to disappear like that.

"Ben, where'd Einsbern go-"

_**BOOM**_

Blake found himself flying across the room with an incredible pain originating from his midsection. What the hell had just happened? The diviner activated a pentacle shield to absorb the impact of his collision with the far wall, and he landed shakely on his feet. Breathing had become a whole lot harder, and each intake of breath caused severe pain in his in his sides. He had definitely broken a couple of ribs from that last blow. What the hell had hit him?

Blake took in a sharp breath and rolled to the side as a familiar looking spear came flying at him. The spear exploded into the wall and caused more goo to flow out. Blake staggered back to his feet and tried to see where the spear had come from. That had been Lancer's spear. What was going on? What was attacking him?

That's when he saw it.

Ben stood, facing him, on the opposite end of the room, with a wicked smile on his face. A ruby appeared before the occultist and boomed towards Blake with the speed of a bullet. Blake blocked the shot with a black and white pentacle shield and sent his matching sword flying at his assailant.

The occultist held out his hands and a green gem shield seemed to form. But, when the sword would have made contact, it instead went into the shield and came flying back out towards Blake. The diviner extended his arm towards the projectile and allowed the sword to spin harmlessly back into his hand.

The blade felt different in his grasp, for some reason. It felt like the weight was off a bit. When the diviner looked down, his eyes went wide and he activated a pentacle shield in just enough time to block an explosion that originated from a gem that had been placed on the blade. What was going on? Why did Ben have all these powers now? The occultist didn't seem to be under the same magic that he had been under before. This was different. This was like Einsbern's grail powers.

"Ben!" Blake yelled. "What are you doing?!"

Ben smiled widely and laughed a sickening laugh. "Ben's not here right now, my dear pet."

That smile. That laugh. It was definitely...

"Einsbern," Blake growled. "Give Ben his body back!"

"Or what?" Einsbern laughed. "You'll kill me? You'd only be attacking this atrociously frail body? You wouldn't harm me in the least. But your friend on the other hand..."

Shit. Blake couldn't attack and he'd only burn himself out if he decided to stick with just defence. What could he do? There had to be something that he could do. Some way to free Ben.

A thought came to him. There was a certain Higher Arcana card in his deck, that could potentially solve the problem, but it was a big risk. It would burn up twenty more years of his lifespan and only leave him with seven more years to live. Wait… Seven…

Yes. He could use _The Chariot _to incapacitate Ben and attempt to extract Einsbern from his body once the occultist was unconscious. That could work, and it would only take seven years off of his life. He knew he was being optimistic instead of realistic, but he didn't care. He wanted to keep his promise, and save Ben.

Blake pulled the card.

"Oh Higher Arcana, hear me and obey," Blake chanted. "Grant me the speed of the gods! Higher Arcana: The Chariot!"

The card dissipated and Blake sped towards Einsbern with blinding speed; nearly blurring out of existence.

Einsbern smirked and sped towards Blake with the same amount of speed and Blake's eyes went wide. Shit. He had forgotten about Lancer's boon of speed. With that ability, Einsbern would be just as fast as Blake, if not faster.

The possessed Ben planted his feet into the ground and allowed the momentum of his dash tp carry through into a flaming punch. Blake couldn't stop himself in time, so he activated a pentacle shield to take the blow for him. But, the punch merely shattered straight through the shield and blasted Blake back into the far wall again. This time, the diviner didn't have time to cushion his impact, and he was forced to accept the entirety of the punishing collision that followed.

Blake felt the pain explode through his body as several of his bones snapped under the impact. The man fell to the floor in agony. He could barely move.

"Really?!" Einsbern cackled. "You thought a low-end card like _The Chariot_ could defeat me?! That was so pathetic. I expected so much more." She sighed. " You're boring me now, diviner. Please excuse me as I go out there and murder Tohsaka. You'll be in here for the remainder of your miserable life, so despair in the knowledge that you couldn't do a damned thing to stop me."

Blake couldn't move.

_Damn it…_

He could hardly even breath.

_Damn it._

His mind had gone fuzzy from the pain, but he could tell where he went wrong.

_Damn it!_

He'd have to sacrifice everything now.

_**DAMN IT ALL!**_

He had to use it. He had wasted the seven remaining years that he could have had, on _The Chariot_, instead of doing what he had needed to do all along. Now he couldn't keep his promise to Rin. But, he still had to save his friends from Einsbern. He had to save everyone from what she would do.

Was this really his fate?

To sacrifice himself for the world?

No.

He wasn't some storybook hero with a messiah complex.

He wasn't doing it for the damn world.

He could care less about the world.

In fact, _fuck_ the world!

He was going to do this for the people that he loved. Besides, how could he ever think about a world where his loved ones could smile freely, if he wasn't willing to put his life on the line.

Yes. He only cared about his loved one. Not a single person more. He was no hero. He would do what he had to, for those he cared for. No one else mattered to him.

"Hi...cana…" Blake struggled out as he shakely pulled the card that he needed from his deck. The arm that he normally grabbed cards with was broken, so he had to reach over with his other arm to pull it. He had to say the words. He had to call forth his card. The card that would cost him the rest of his life.

Einsbern turned back around at the sound of Blake's voice and giggled. "What was that, pet? I didn't quite catch that."

The goo was beginning to singe at Blake's shoes and pants as it poured out from the wall, but he struggled on. "High...er Arc...nah…"

"You're going to have to speak up, pet." Einsbern laughed. "I can't hear you! Are begging for mercy? Well it's too late for that!"

Strength. He needed the rest of his strength. He had to find strength within himself. He had to pull it all out now. It didn't matter if he died. Once he used his card, he would die soon anyways. So he'd use everything that he had left.

"Oh Higher Arcana…" the diviner began. The card began to respond to his words.

Einsbern's eyes went wide at the words that she was hearing. "No...stop..." She took a step forward.

"Hear me and obey…" Blake continued. The card was growing brighter.

"Stop!" Einsbern yelled as she moved towards Blake. She seemed like she could tell what he was planning.

"Judge the soul of the one before me…"

"STOOPPP!" Einsbern screamed as she exploded forward.

"And cast out the wicked." Blake commanded.

He could feel it. He could feel his life force card was now fully charged with his remaining twenty years.

Einsbern picked the diviner up by his throat and slammed him against the wall. "If you say another word, I'll kill everyone that you love!"

Blake smiled as he pressed his card to Einsbern forehead.. "Higher Arcana: Judgement."

A brilliant flash of light exploded through the room and Einsbern screamed out in pain. Red mist began to rise up from Ben's body and the scream's point of origin seemed to change from Ben's throat to the mist. The mist took on the form of Einsbern for a brief moment, and then it dissipated into nothingness.

As the light dimmed, Ben fell to one knee and dropped Blake to the ground. "What the hell just happened? Blake!" Ben bent down and helped his friend sit up. "What happened to you? Are you alright?!"

Blake coughed out a laugh. "I've certainly been better, bro." He coughed some more. "Let's get out of this place before it crumbles down with us still in it. Now that Einsbern is dead, this place won't stay much longer."

It was true. Though the red goo had seemingly disappeared, the walls were still crumbling and the golden rug had ignited into flames. The servants had completely disappeared from the pillars and Blake sighed in sadness. He wished that he could have at least said good-bye to Lancer and Luna.

Blake knew that he should have just stayed. He was going to fade away soon anyways, but he was selfish. He still wanted to say good-bye to Rin and the rest of his friends. With the mana he had left, he could tell that he only had about an hour left before he disappeared.

Ben threw Blake's good arm over his shoulders and hoisted the diviner up by his back belt loop.

The two magi made their way out of the room.

They had won.

Right?

**A/N: Only one chapter left until the epilogue. Al, that's left now is tying up some loose ends. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will finish the story when the ending comes out. Thanks for reading!**

**-B **


	37. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy! **

**Chapter 36- Blake**

He knew. He had known for a while now, but he knew that it was for the greater good. As soon as he had used _Higher Arcana: Judgement_, he knew that he was not long for the world. The tarot card magic had great and powerful potential, true. But, it extracted a great cost.

When used in ritual...that is...when properly prepared, Higher Arcana cards posed no threat to the user's life. But, when used on the fly like a suit card, they demanded a grave price. A price that could only be paid with one's life force. There was no other way. For every Higher Arcana card used, without the proper preparations, years were shaved off of the user's life equal to the number on the card.

In his millennium-long training in his inner world, Blake had discovered that his lifespan was ninety-three years. He was currently twenty, giving him seventy-three years of life to spend, if need be. Blake had used seven of the twenty-two Higher Arcana cards throughout the duration of the war. He had used _The Magician, The High Priestess, The Chariot, Strength, Temperance, Judgement,_ and _The World._

Upon use of the latest card, _Judgement_, Blake had put himself at exactly seventy-three years of burned up arcane life force. This meant, that at any moment, he would fade away. He was on borrowed time now, but he couldn't help but feel happy. He had saved the world for the people that he cared about.

Ben helped Blake limp through the gate and allowed him to stand on his own once they were on the other side. The mansion had completely burned down at this point and all that was left was an odd looking octagonal patch of floor around the two female magi. The rest of the clearing was ash. Blake marveled at the fact the te forest seemed unharmed.

As the two men exited the glowing gate, it shattered and both Rin and Sarah fell to their knees with shaky legs. They must have used a tremendous amount of mana to keep the gate open. They both looked exhausted.

Ben collapsed down next to Sarah and let sleep consume him. He had done things with his body that no human was meant to endure. Between his weird possession magic and his brief control over the grail's powers, the big man was understandably exhausted. Sarah rolled her eyes at him, but stayed where she was; a small smile playing at her lips.

**Rin**

Rin's knees had barely touched the floor before she sprang back up and jumped on Blake. She was amazed that she still had enough energy to do so, but she went with it. The man was beaten to all hell, but she was going to be selfish now. She had thought she was going to lose him again when the Grail had begun to crack. The stupid idiot had worried her and he was going to pay.

The woman collided into him with enough force to knock him onto his back.

"Oww." He groaned. "What the hell was that for?"

He was obviously in pain, and tackling him probably hadn't been the best course of action, but Rin still sat on top of him and began to lightly pound his chest with her fists as tears welled up in her eyes. She was going to let him have it.

"For making me worry again!" She yelled. "For making me turn into such a girl! For making me feel something for you! For being an idiot!" Her fists were coming down a bit harder now, but Blake just laid there and took it. "For leaving me behind while you go off and fight that horrible woman! And for..."

She trailed off as she looked into his eyes. A deep sadness seemed to rest there. A sadness that told her that he had given up something vital in that fight inside the grail. Something that he couldn't get back. That look worried her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

His sadness seemed to grow.

Then it hit her.

Her dad had told her about tarot magic. In truth, it was superior in almost every way to the Tohsaka gem magic, but its cost was much greater. That power was the reason that the tarot mages were targeted. She recalled her dad mentioning the Higher Arcana cards. A magic that burned up the user's lifespan. Her eyes widened.

Back when Blake had saved her, Rin had felt a tremendous amount of mana drag her out of Einsbern's trap. At the time, it had been more mana than she thought that Blake could possibly posses, but now she knew why. Because he hadn't had that amount of mana in him. Yes, he had more mana than the average mage, but not nearly enough to cast a spell of that magnitude. He had been able to save her because he had condensed years of his life into a single spell. So if he looked this sad then he must of...

"How many did you use?" She whispered as her head began to hang. The tears that had begun to well up in her eyes started fall.

Blake broke his gaze and turned his head away. "I don't know what your-"

"Then let me elaborate, _Blake_. Higher. Arcana. Cards." She shot each word as she glared down at him; tears now flowing freely "How many of them did you use?!"

As he turned his head back towards her, his eyes said everything that his mouth couldn't. "_Enough of them,_" the eyes seemed to say.

"How long?" She whispered. Her tears were waterfalling down her face now. He didn't answer. "How long!" She yelled as she glared at him straight in the eyes.

Her eyes were red and wet, and her nose was running. The air felt cold and desolate. Ben had woken from his very short nap and was watching the scene unfold with Sarah, but Rin was too upset to care about that. She was sad and pissed and every other emotion under the sun. In short, she was a wreck.

"One hour." He said with pain in his eyes.

"What? Why?! Why would you do this?!" She yelled. "Why would you throw away your life for this!"

"Because I had to make up for a life I took and because this was much bigger than any one of us." Blake responded with resolve in his eyes. "If the grail was allowed to exist, it would have caused destruction on a city wide scale. Possibly even a country wide scale. It was simple math. One life for millions."

"But that wasn't your mission!" Rin cried. "It was mine! I was the one who should have made a sacrifice like that! Not you! Why'd it have to be you?!"

"You did sacrifice yourself, but I couldn't live with that." Blake responded.

"What are you talking about?" Rin asked.

Sadness overtook Blake's face as he recalled the former timeline. As he recalled Rin, dead in his arms. "It doesn't matter now. You're safe." He looked over at the two other mages, then back to Rin. "Let's get going."

It hurt Rin that he didn't seemed phased at all by her outbursts. He was dying, and he didn't even seem to care.

Rin stormed off ahead.

**Blake**

The four magi walked solemnly back to the apartment. Rin walked a few meters in front of Blake and Sarah walked next to her; rubbing her back in comfort. Rin was understandably upset and needed a minute to cool off.

Ben strode next to his best friend in silence for a ways and then spoke.

"So when did you find out about the lifespan thing?" He asked while still looking forward. He seemed upset as well.

Blake sighed. "The first time, when I used Temperance, I guess."

This made Ben look at him in shock. "Since the first one?! Why didn't you say anything?! I know you were pretty drained after that, but still! You should have said something!"

Blake rubbed the back of his head. "It was more of a hunch back then. It was only until I ran into Einsbern that I found out fully what it was. By that time, it was too late. I was already too far in."

"But we could have come up with a different plan!" Ben argued. "You didn't need to sacrifice your last twenty years!"

Blake looked Ben dead in the eyes. There was guilt all over the occultist's face. "I did what I had to." The diviner said sternly. "Trust me. If there was another option. Another way. I would have taken it. But there wasn't. _Judgement_ was the only way to bring down Einsbern, at the point we had reached."

"You only had to use that card because I was dumb enough to get possessed by her..." Ben trailed. "If I had been stronger-"

"Stop it." Blake interrupted the occultists pity party. "Don't do that to yourself, man. I chose this. This was my life, and my choice. The world demanded payment for victory, and I paid it gladly." Blake let out a joyless chuckle and gave a grim smile. "In a way, the Grail kind of granted my wish."

Ben looked at him in confusion.

"My wish," Blake continued. "Was for a world of safety. A world where the people I love can smile freely."

Silence.

Ben punched him.

He punched him so hard that it staggered the diviner into a tree. The two magi ahead of them turned around in surprise at the sound of the impact.

"What the-" Blake began.

Ben grabbed the diviner by the collar of his jacket and slammed him into the tree; causing more pain to corse through his broken body. Damnit! Why was everyone hitting him?! There was nothing but anger in Ben's eyes.

"Ben!" Rin yelled. "Stop it!"

"How the hell do you expect us to smile freely?!" Ben yelled in Blake's face; ignoring Rin. Blake had never seen his friend so angry, but he kept a neutral face. "You joined a war that you had no stake in! You completed a mission that wasn't yours to complete! And now, after all of it, you're just gonna fade away and expect us to smile freely?! Fuck you man! Fuck you."

Blake didn't back down. "First of all, I had stake in this war." Blake responded sternly. "My brother was going to battle and I had the means to join him. I wasn't going to back down and cower in my room. Second of all, that mission was my mission as well. I agreed to help the woman I care about and I'm a man of my word. And finally, yes. I do expect you to smile freely. This world is much bigger than you, or me, or any one person. So yes. I do expect that, because that is the world I'm leaving you. Take it or leave it." Blake pushed Ben off of him. "Now I'd like to spend my last moments in a semi-familiar place. Not in the middle of the woods getting yelled at."

Blake sighed as he touched his deck. He felt another card fade away. He had to tell them that it was for the world. If he told them that it was for them, then they'd blame themselves more than they already were. It was for the best that they didn't know the truth.

Besides. They would soon forget anyways.

**30 minutes later**

This was it. He had five minutes left before he disappeared. Blake stood on the roof of the apartment building and looked down at the card in his hand. The rest of his deck had all but disappeared, leaving this singular card in his possession. This would be for the best. There was no need for the man called Blake Ryan anymore.

He sighed.

That's when he felt them. Slender arms wrapped around his midsection from behind and a face buried itself between his shoulder blades. He smiled sadly. He knew exactly who it was.

"I don't want you to go." Rin's muffled voice sobbed into his back. "There has to be a way to save you."

Blake put the card back into his pocket and turned around to face her. The man stood almost a head taller than her, so he had to look down a bit. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was suffering because of him. This solidified what he was about to do.

"There isn't, Rin." Blake said as he pulled her to him. "So don't worry about me. I want you to forget about me and move on."

Rin pulled back and glared at him. "How could I ever think to forget about an idiot like you? I refuse! You can't make me!"

Blake smiled at the irony of that statement. "So you refuse to forget me then?"

"That's what I just said, you idiot." Rin scolded. "Don't think you ca-"

Rin stopped short as white energy began to dissipate off of the man she cared for. He was starting to fade. She reached out her hand to touch his face.

"No..." she whispered. "No! Don't go! Please! I'm begging you."

She latched onto him. Holding him as if she could hold him there forever. Blake smiled sadly down at the girl in his arms and reached for the card in his pocket.

"I love you, Rin." He said as he pressed his lips to hers. He had to use the card before he faded.

She could feel him fading as their lips continued to press together. Then he pulled away. "And I'm sorry." The man said as held the card up in the air.

"W-what are you doing?" Rin stammered." When she saw the artwork of a jester on the card, she froze. No. He meant to erase the world's memories of himself. He was about to erase the memories of himself from existence. "No..." She whispered in shock. "No! Stop it! I don't want to forget!"

"Oh Higher Arcana," Blake chanted with tears in his eyes.

Rin attempted to grab the card from his hand. "Please! I'm begging you! I don't want to forget! Don't make me forget!"

Blake moved in to hold her close, effectively shortening her reach. She struggled valiantly, but she wouldn't be able to grab the card now. "Hear me an obey for the final time."

"No! Please! Blake! No! I love you too! Don't do this! Don't make me forget! Please!" Rin pleaded as she struggled to break free. She attempted to enhance herself, but she was much too short on mana.

"Rewrite the world without the existence of diviner mage known as Blake Ryan."

"Nooo!" She cried.

The diviner gave her one last sad look, and then spoke the words she so desperately didn't want him to say. "Higher Arcana: The Fool."

White light flashed all around and rippled throughout the world. Pictures of him faded. Thoughts of him dissipated. Messages from him disappeared. Every trace that Blake Ryan had walked the earth, vanished.

And with that, he faded away into everlasting nothingness.

**Rin**

Rin Tohsaka was standing on the rooftop of the apartment building, in numb silence, when she finally shook out of her daze.

Why was she on the roof? And why were her eyes wet? Had she been crying? She wondered why. And why did she feel so lonely and sad? Even as she stood there, the feelings seemingly faded, but there still felt like there was something missing. Something that should have been there, but wasn't.

What could it be?

**END**

**A/N: And that is the final chapter. Or is it? Like I mentioned, there will be an epilogue dropping soon. Be prepared for the neat stuff to come. If you enjoyed the story, it will be a real treat. Thanks for reading!**

**-B**


	38. Epilogue

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!**

**Epilogue **

Blake awoke, strapped into a wooden chair with leather straps. A bright spotlight illuminated from overhead, only leaving a circle of visibility around him. On the outside of the circle, was pitch black darkness. Where was he? Last thing he remembered he had used _Higher Arcana: The Fool_ and faded away. Then nothing.

What was this place? Why was bound?

"So you have awakened, Blake Ryan." A deep voice sounded out from the darkness.

What the hell? Was he being pranked right now? Blake felt like he was being pranked.

"Where am I!" Blake called out to the voice. "I thought I died! Is this the afterlife?"

A condescending chuckle came from the shadows. Blake's blood boiled a bit.

"That is a complicated question with a complicated answer." A second deep voice responded. "In simple terms, yes. But, in more complex terms, no."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Could you be any more vague?" He mocked. "How can this "be" the afterlife but "not be" the afterlife?"

A third voice now spoke. This one was female. "It is not the afterlife in the terms that you have been taught. _That_ afterlife is set aside for _regular_ people to live out the rest of their existence in peace. This place, however, _is_ an afterlife in the simplest of terms, but one only for tarot or divine users."

"So what is this place?" Blake asked.

The first voice spoke. "We refer to it as the Diviner Realm. As to why you are here, Blake Ryan, there are two reasons. The first should be obvious. You are a diviner. A tarot card user. A wielder of great and terrible magic that can bend time and space itself."

"Careful, Vollu." The third voice spoke. "Your pride is showing."

Blake couldn't help but give a chuckle. He liked the female voice. The first voice, Vollu, sounded a bit too pompus and arrogant for Blake's liking.

"Silence, Integra!" The voice, now known as Vollu, snapped. "Anyways, back on topic. As for the second reason, you have displayed great power and focus. You saw the bigger picture and were able to make the sacrifice play for the world."

"I didn't do it for the world" Blake sighed.

"Even so, you saved many people at the cost of your own life." The female voice explained.

"Whatever," Blake sighed again. "What does me, sacrificing my life, have to do with the Diviner Realm?"

"Being a diviner, alone, does not get you to the Diviner Realm. It's simply a prerequisite." Vollu explained. "The true deciding factor is how you used such an ability for the sake of humanity as a whole."

"So this is like Heaven...but for diviner's?" Blake inquired. That would seem to make sense. You do a good deed, you get into the Diviner Realm.

"No," the second voice spoke. "It is an _opportunity for a second chance."_

This statement struck Blake like lightning. The diviner's jaw dropped. A second chance? Was that even possible? This couldn't be real.

"So you're saying that I could go back to the realm?" Blake asked with hope.

"Yes." Blake's hope soared with that single word. "But there are a few things that must be done to allow this." This seemed understandable, but the diviner couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"What do I have to do?" Blake asked.

"Well, you see, we can't just go around changing the laws of nature as we see fit." Vollu, explained. "Your life was meant to last ninety-three years. Through your...poor...use of the _Higher Arcana Cards_, you reduced this span to twenty years."

Blake's irritation sparked at Vollu's comment. What did he mean by "poor use"? He had saved the city of Berlin from Einsbern and her grail. It may have been at the cost of his own life...but still.

Apparently, Integra noticed the irritation on the young diviner's face. "Do not take Vollu's harsh judgement on your use of the Higher Arcana to heart. He is simply jealous that your feat was far superior to his, and is just being overly critical of you."

"I am not!" Vollu shouted.

Blake was starting to get the feeling that he shouldn't take these guys too seriously.

Vollu And Integra argued back and forth until the second voice finally cut them all off. "Silence! The both of you! We should really get back to the matter at hand, don't you think?"

"Sorry, Master Jondor," the bickering pair apologized fearfully.

The second voice, Jondor, must have been the leader of the three.

"As Vollu was saying." Jondor picked up. "You reduced your lifespan to the limit of twenty years. In order to reverse this, you must enact certain missions that will counteract each of the cards that you have used. Missions that will put you against the spirits of those cards. Seeing as you used a total of eight of them, that means eight missions."

"How long could that take?" Blake asked.

"That depends solely on you." Jondor responded. "However long it takes for you to force them into submission. It could take a single day...or it could take an eternity. It all depends on the determination and focus that you show in the challenges that they will provide you with."

Blake admitted that it sounded tempting, but he had erased the memories of himself from his world. Would he really be able to go back so easily? Would he be able to restore those memories?

"Alternatively, you could stay here for the remainder of your existence." Jondor continued. "If you do so, you will be treated well, and you will not have to worry about the trials. Many choose this option. Your life would be one of luxury and comfort."

Blake thought a moment. If he stayed, he wouldn't have to go through pain, and there would be no fear of failure. He could live out the rest of his existence in peace. But, if he took on the trials, and subjected himself to their difficulties, then he could return to Rin. He could see his family again.

But again, he had erased their memories.

"I know that I'll get my years back when I complete the tasks, but does anything else happen?" Blake asked the three voices.

"I'm glad you asked," Jondor responded. "Yes. You gain mastery over those cards in ways that very few have. These mastered cards are called _Mastered Arcana Cards_."

"_Mastered Arcana_?" Blake raised an eyebrow. That sounded badass.

"Yes," The voice chuckled. "Higher Arcana cards that you'd be able to use without penalty. They'd do your bidding without question or sacrifice."

Blake nodded. Maybe one of the Mastered Arcana Cards could restore the memories of his loved ones.

Blake made up his mind. He had to do this. He would do this. He was going to get back to his world no matter what.

"I'll do it." Blake smiled. "You can count me in."

"_Wait for me, Rin. I'm coming home._"

_**Blake Ryan will return in Fate/ Re:REALM**_

**A/N: Well guys, it's been a blast. I'd like to thank all my readers out there who gave this story a chance. It was a pleasure writing it and as you can tell, there will be a second installment in the future. I'm not sure on a title yet, but I am leaning towards Fate/ Re:REALM. Writing just will not begin for a while. Life is about to catch up to me here really soon, so I won't be able to write for a couple of months. This is actually the first story that I have ever officially completed, so I'm super proud of that. Again, I am super thankful for those of you who even got through one chapter of this story. I know it probably wasn't the greatest story with the greatest plot, but it's the one that I wrote. I hope you guys read more of my content in the future, and if not, then that's okay too. For the last time for a while: Thank you for reading! Peace!**

**-B**


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